Janitor recounts memorable past

The wrinkles on his dirt-crusted hands crease as he fingers the lines on his palm, formed from decades of work. When he speaks, his voice is encapsulated by a Portuguese accent, adding extra slurs to his R’s and combining the ends of his words together into soft, harmonizing melodies.

Custodian John Sequeira, better known as John the Janitor, has worked at Saratoga High for eight years as a night custodian. He is primarily responsible for taking care of the gym. Students who see him in the hallways know him as a friendly janitor with a pair of smiley-face patterned suspenders, and basketball players have adopted him as their No. 1 fan, but under his cheerful demeanor lie memories of war, struggle and hardship. Indeed, Sequeira, 64, has lived through pain but also has acquired beautiful memories from his time in America and at SHS.

A childhood in Portugal

Sequeira grew up as one of 11 children on his family’s farm in Portugal. Both Sequeira and his family spent all daylight hours working on the farm and taking care of each other, leaving little to no time for him to receive an education.

When asked to spell the name of his home city, he paused for a few seconds, tilted his head back and sighed, explaining that he never learned to read because he never had the chance to go to school.

After spending most of his first 20 years in Portugal helping his family on the farm, he was drafted to fight for his country, which was then at war in Africa, specifically in Cabinda and Luanda. At this time, parts of Africa were colonized by the Portuguese. Because the Cubans wanted to claim some parts of Africa for themselves, the Portuguese decided to defend it. Sequeira remained in Africa for 25 months, a time he despised for the violence he witnessed yet also cherished for the continent’s beauty.

“I planned to stay [in Africa] because I liked there, [but] my sister was already [in the United States], and she take the papers and send us papers for coming here,” Sequeira said.

Journey to America

In 1972, at age 22, Sequeira completed his bittersweet service.

Six months later, Sequeira’s sister brought him to the United States, where he has resided for 41 years. With the help of their cousin, Sequeira’s sister got him his first job: milking cows on a farm. Sequeira loved the job because it reminded him of his childhood. After this job, Sequeira also built houses and did drywall work and landscaping. Finally, he became a janitor at SHS.

After attaining his green card in 1974, Sequeira initially planned to live in the U.S. for 10 years and make enough money to return to Portugal. In the meantime, however, he got married, became a father to three children, settled in San Jose and decided to stay in the United States, a country that he now calls his own.

Sequeira found it difficult to assimilate into the culture because of his difficulty with English, so he decided to attend night classes at a high school in San Jose. After three months, however, he stopped going to the classes because he grew exasperated from constantly switching between lower and higher class levels due to recommendations from his teachers.

“I no go back and forth. I go home and that’s it,” Sequeira said. “I no go to school.”

This setback did not affect Sequeira, as he learned to speak English on his own and was surrounded by the comfort of his siblings, who lived in close proximity to him. Every three months, Sequeira’s mother hosted a large family reunion, where all of her 11 children would visit her at her home in California.

“[The reunions were] amazing,” Sequeira said. “When my mom was still here, everyone goes there and, of course, everyone got married and had kids. We were all a big family.”

At the reunions, Sequeira and his family talked and played games from their childhood, specifically Portuguese card games like Sueca and Bisca.

“We would go around a big table, and everyone starts playing,” Sequeira said. “We would just have a good time.”

These reunions, however, stopped after Sequeira’s mother passed away, limiting the number of times his family got together thereafter.

“It’s part of life, [losing connection with your family,]” Sequeira said. “It’s really part of the life.”

Besides working and spending time with his  family, Sequeira has a passion for gardening. In his home, he plants orchids and has more than 230 vases of them in his home.

Whenever Sequeira has free time, especially on Sundays, he heads to his garden and tends to the orchids, a practice he finds very relaxing.

“If I no feel good, my head hurts, I go there and everything goes away,” Sequeira said. “Right now they start blooming and it’s really good to take care of them.”

Joining the SHS Community

Eight years ago, Sequiera began working at the school. For Sequeira, the main highlights of working at the school include his love for students who appreciate his help.

“Everybody respect me the way I am and the way I work,” Sequeira said. “It’s like a family school. This is what I most love about working here.”

Although his shift normally starts at 2 p.m., he comes to work two hours earlier during the basketball season so he can finish working before the games and relax and watch the team.

During his second year at the school, Sequeira remembers being thrown a basketball from one of the team members while he was cleaning the gym. Sequeira, with a rush of adrenaline, ran to the court and shot the ball — it swished in. He never took another shot because he wanted to treasure this victorious memory.

Two years ago, the boys’ basketball team wanted to express its gratitude for Sequeira’s unwavering support and care for the campus by honoring him during half time.

“[The team] call me in the center the gym, and every kid got suspenders on,” Sequeira said as he pulled his own red suspenders. “Everyone take them off [and] then they give them to me. I love them, and they love me back. So it’s a good thing. I play jokes with the kids, and they play the jokes with me. It’s fun working here.”

The basketball team reciprocates the love Sequeira has for them.

“There are no words to describe [Sequeira],” said junior Joseph Eschen, a varsity basketball player. “He is always so dedicated to whatever he does, and I can’t thank him enough for that.”

2013 alumnus Kyle Dozier remembers Sequeira’s friendliness and support for students. “Ever since I got to SHS as a freshman, anytime I was in the gym, [he] was always so welcoming and comforting and made it more fun for people to be in there,” Dozier said.

Now having three granddaughters and one great granddaughter, Sequeira wishes to retire within the next two to three years and spend the majority of his free time with them.

He took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds. “I’m going to miss this place,” he said.

Despite his plans for retirement, Sequeira wishes to continue attending every single home basketball game, the way he has since he started working at the school.

Sequeira has certainly come a long way, and he will continue to treasure the many opportunities he seized and memories he was able to experience.

“In here, [America]’s a free country, and you work hard, but you got things to live good,” Sequeira said. “If you no wanna work, of course you have no much, but if you work hard, you’ll have the chance to get to live.”

Sequeira hopes that students at this school remain as kind and driven as they always have been. He also hopes that they find time to enjoy their life, just as he has.