ABC News' John Quiñones shares inspirational life story with students at South Texas College of Law

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, ABC13 has shared stories of struggle and inspiration, including that of John Quiñones of ABC News.

Quiñones brought his message this month to the South Texas College of Law. He spoke to students about growing up in poverty in San Antonio, noting that his father was a janitor and his mother a maid. Hard times would lead the family, including young John, to migrant farm work. However, he always believed he was made for something else.

"I always had a dream; I used to listen to a little transistor radio, " Quiñones recalled. "And I would listen to a radio announcer and reports from around the world, and I dreamed of being in broadcasting."

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We know Quiñones as a globetrotting journalist covering the investigation into Vanessa Guillen's murder at Fort Hood and the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, but that was not his first job.

"I used to shine shoes on Guadalupe Street in San Antonio for 10 cents a pair. My cousin Joey and I would go to all the cantinas and the bars because the drunk guys didn't know how much they were tipping you. And we made a killing," he said. " Until one night, we were coming home, a gang jumped us and stole all our rags, polishes, earnings, and shoe shine box that I made from scratch. And that was the end of my shoe-shining career."

But the beginning of something special that he shared with these students at South Texas College of Law Houston's Benny Agosto Jr. Diversity Center.

"My message is simple. If this kid didn't speak English at six years old, shined shoes on Guadalupe Street, picked tomatoes in Ohio and cherries in Michigan, if he can make it to network television in the US, then of course you can, too. Anything is possible," he said.

In a way, Quiñones believes his early years experiencing discrimination, racism, and poverty prepared him for what has arguably become his most memorable work - the TV show "What Would You Do?"

Nothing is off limits as Quiñones watches everyday people react to challenging situations with hidden cameras, showing us all who we are as a society.

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"My own teachers and my own counselors would do what people on that TV show 'What Would You Do?' would do. They judged me by the color of my skin, the accent in my voice, and the fact that no one in my family had ever gone to college."

He's far from those days, but his work in Uvalde keeps him close to his Texas roots.

"For me, it was personal; I lived and grew up just an hour away from Uvalde," said Quiñones,"They knew, the people of that town, that we were staying, then they opened up not just their homes, but their hearts and we came away with better stories because they trusted us."

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