They’ve Beaten the Odds; Now They’re Giving Back

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This is a story about how success begets success. More specifically, it’s a story about how three recent college graduates—all children of immigrants working low-wage jobs—have not only embarked on professional careers but also have become mentors for current college students who come from backgrounds like theirs.  

I am the child of two college-educated parents. I grew up assuming I would go to college—and I did. My kids grew up assuming that they would go to college—and they did.  As I was chatting with the three graduates profiled here, the phrase “There but for the grace of God go I” played in my head. What if my parents hadn’t assumed that I would go to college? What if, every Saturday morning, my dad, instead of taking the elementary-school-age me to the library, had had to work, as did my mom, leaving me to fend for myself?  What if, during high school, I worked twenty hours a week, forgoing not only quintessential high school extracurriculars—sports teams, school plays, etc.—but also limiting how much time I had to study. In short, had I not been born lavished with good fortune, I know that I wouldn’t have come close to these graduates’ achievements.

It would have taken me many hours of interviews to provide even a cursory description of the obstacles these graduates have overcome. I didn’t have that much time, and, more to the point, they didn’t either. Still, I wanted to give you a taste of how far they’ve come, only asking that you use your imagination and, perhaps, your own life experiences­­––opportunities you may have had that they never had––to help you recognize the magnitude of their accomplishments.

What makes their stories even more compelling is that all three graduates are current or past volunteer mentors to first generation college students who have lived their mentees’ life experiences. Who better to demonstrate to first generation college students that starting at the bottom of the economic ladder, then graduating from college and embarking on a professional career, while disappointingly rare, can still be within reach of those with the vision, grit, and self-discipline to make that happen.

Each individual profiled here is quick to point out that they couldn’t have completed college without assistance from Pursuit of Excellence (POE), a Palo Alto–based nonprofit whose mission is to help low-income, hardworking students earn a college degree by providing them with financial support and mentoring as well as internship opportunities and mental health support.

Mariela Lopez: On her way to a PhD

Only about two percent of the PhDs in the United States are Latina. POE recipient and current POE mentor Mariela Lopez is on track to be a member of that elite group.

When she was fifteen, Mariela moved from Mexico to Redwood City where she lived with her dad, a produce buyer. (Her mom, her two sisters, and her brother stayed in Mexico.) When she started at Woodside High School as a sophomore, she was placed in a beginning English Language Development class. Two years later, she was classified as a fluent English speaker.

Mariela was accepted at the University of California, San Diego. She had no idea what her future would hold. “When I started college, I didn’t know research was a thing. I didn’t know neuroscience was a thing. And while I’d heard of a PhD, I didn’t know much about it.”

As a college freshman, Mariela volunteered in a research lab where she discovered that research was her calling. She subsequently changed her major from psychology to neuroscience.

Mariela is more than midway through a doctorate program in neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania where her focus is on neurodevelopment disorders and their effect on metabolism. She also is a mentor for three POE students, all majoring in the sciences. She says, “I absolutely love being a mentor. Not long ago, I was in their shoes, so I am familiar with their needs. I can tell them things I wish I had known, and I can give them the advice that worked for me when I was in college.”

Vanessa Torres: Pediatric oncology nurse

When she was in eighth grade, Vanessa Torres started working at the pizzeria where her uncle worked. When she was sixteen, she left that job and started working fifteen hours a week at Starbucks, all while taking challenging high school classes, enrolling in several community college classes, and volunteering as a reading tutor. In retrospect, Vanessa says, “I really don’t know how I did it.”

Vanessa, whose father is a custodian and whose mother is a house cleaner, used the money she earned to help support her family and to buy shoes and clothes for herself. Her parents left school after they’d completed elementary school, so beginning in middle school, Vanessa was on her own in when it came to getting help with homework.

After graduating from Redwood City’s Woodside High School, Vanessa attended UCLA, where she majored in psychology and minored in Chicano studies. She recalls that at the start of her freshman year, she and her mom took a Greyhound bus from Redwood City to Los Angeles and a taxi from the bus station to her UCLA dorm—and how bereft she felt after her mom left to return home.

After graduating from UCLA, Vanessa worked as a research assistant at a Stanford cancer lab. She returned to UCLA a few years later and earned a Master of Science in nursing. For the past five years, she has been a pediatric oncology nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, where she works with children needing stem cell transplants. Many of her patients speak only Spanish.

Vanessa has mentored four POE students. In addition to offering them practical advice, she has freely shared the emotional ups and downs that she experienced as a first-generation college student, including how forsaken she felt that first day as a freshman at UCLA. “In the beginning I was overwhelmed. I still remember what that feels like,” she says.

Manny Espinoza: How DACA changed everything

Growing up undocumented and knowing his career options were few, Manny Espinoza didn’t think much about planning for his future. But that changed in his junior year of high school when President Obama introduced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provided eligible young adults who are brought to the US as children with temporary work authorization. Manny applied and was accepted into the program.

When he realized that he could go to college and have a career, Manny chose finance as his focus, hoping to reach a level of financial stability that he didn’t have growing up.

During his senior year at Woodside High School Manny began to experience severe anxiety. But given how hard he’d worked to get to college, he refused to let his illness stand in his way. He enrolled at San Diego State. Then, Donald Trump was elected. Fears that he’d be deported exacerbated his anxiety, and he dropped out.

As POE director Carol Mullin says, “Manny had a tough path through college, and his determination was amazing.” What she doesn’t mention is that POE is unusual among college scholarships in that it continues to support students like Manny who take a break from college and then return.

When his life was back together, Manny attended the College of San Mateo, then transferred to San Francisco State where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance. After graduating, he found a job that used his finance skills, but soon discovered, by enrolling in online classes, that his real passion was software engineering. Never one to give up on his dreams, Manny enrolled in Oregon State University. In June, he received a second bachelor’s degree, this one in computer science.  

Manny is a passionate POE mentor. “There are so many things I have been through that are extremely important for a first-generation student to know so they don’t make the same mistakes I made and so they’re super prepared and have every tool they need to succeed.”

This blog focuses on inspiring people in our community. If you know of anyone who has inspired you, please contact me at elizabethweal2@gmail.com and tell me a bit about them.