Rivera worked in the fields alongside his family during summer vacations and often missed school because of the overlapping work-season. At the beginning of every school term, he had to catch up on missed material from the preceding year. The family labored with many other migrant workers in various parts of the Midwest: they lived and worked in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota. Rivera worked as a field labourer until 1956; at this point he was enrolled in Southwest Texas Junior College and the school would not permit him to miss class. This signified the end of his migrant working days and the beginning of a new life.