What We Make Possible

Katherine
First Upward Scholars student to graduate from UC Berkeley

At 16, Katherine faced a tough choice: stay in Peru without support or move to the US for better opportunities. With her mother's backing, she chose the latter, settling in Redwood City.

She enrolled in ESL classes at Sequoia Adult School and discovered Upward Scholars, receiving a laptop, book vouchers, and valuable information on scholarships and resources.

With the help of professors, advisers, Phi Theta Kappa, and the ESL and Upward Scholars communities, Katherine pursued a Bachelor's degree in economics.

To finance her studies and support her mother in Peru, Katherine worked various jobs, including an internship with Senator Jerry Hill and a position at Ennube Solutions.

Now a full-time FinTech Consultant at FactSet, Katherine is encouraging her mother to continue to community college and join the Upward Scholars family. “I’m so happy Upward Scholars has grown so much and is now able to provide so much more support for students,” Katherine says.

Marta
”The day English changed my life” 

Upward Scholars student Marta Marcos remembers the day English changed her life. 

A mother of two, Marta started volunteering at her daughter's school soon after she and her family arrived to the U.S. from El Salvador. Knowing how much Marta liked kids, a friend told her about an opening for an assistant pre-school teacher. Marta applied for the job. 

"I was so scared," Marta recalls. "The interview was in English and my English was not good." But Marta nailed the interview and got the job, a victory she attributes to the ESL classes she took at Sequoia Adult School and Cañada College and the support she received from Upward Scholars. 

Marta has completed all her ESL college classes and is now enrolled in Early Childhood Education (ECE) classes. Her plan is to get an associate degree in ECE and then transfer to a four-year university to get her elementary teaching credential. You can watch Marta tell her story here. You can also read Marta’s story on the Cañada College’s Student Success page here.

Moises
First Upward Scholars student to earn a bachelor's degree

In December 2017, Moises Bautista graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering. He is the first Upward Scholars student to earn a four-year degree. 

Moises came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 18 and attended Cañada College for seven years. It took him that long because he worked full-time, so he only had limited time to study. In addition, he knew very little math, so he had to start with the basics (pre-algebra) and work his way up to the advanced math he needed to transfer to an engineering program.

"At Cañada I learned about life," he says. "And Upward Scholars showed me that there are a lot of people in this community who want to help." 

Moises is currently an account manager at Oracle.

You can watch Moises tell his story here.

Carmina
Food truck entrepreneur and Upward Scholars' resident chef

If you’ve attended an Upward Scholars event, there’s a good chance you’ve delighted in the cooking of chef extraordinaire Carmina Ortuño. But what you may not know is that Carmina, now a successful entrepreneur, was once an Upward Scholars student. 

Carmina came here to escape violence in Mexico and knew no English when she arrived.  She took ESL classes, first at Sequoia Adult School and then at Cañada College, to learn enough English to start her business. Upwards Scholars paid for her books and transportation to college. 

Before coming to the United States, Carmina owned a small restaurant in Acapulco. Wanting to capitalize on her passion for cooking, she recently opened a food truck in San Jose specializing in traditional Mexican fare like chile verde, chicken tinga, and barbacoa.  

Carmina had planned to return to school after her business got going, but success got in her way. “My goal was to take math and business classes,” Carmina says. “But now I have no time.” 

If you’re interested in talking to Carmina about catering an event, with or without her food truck, you can contact her at cielitolindomsk@outlook.com.

Viridiana
When kids are your passion… 

Even though she was only 16 when she arrived in the U.S. from Mexico, Upward Scholars alum Viridiana Yengle didn't consider going to high school; rather, she went straight to work. 

After a few years working minimum wage jobs, Viridiana got a job as a nanny. That's when she discovered that kids were her passion. 

To act on that passion, Viridiana knew she needed to go back to school. She attended Cañada College for three years and, in May, became the first Upward Scholars student to receive an associate degree in Early Childhood Education.  

During Viridiana's years at Cañada, Upward Scholars paid for her textbooks and parking pass and gave her a laptop. Her Upward Scholars tutor, a Stanford undergrad, helped her improve her writing. Upward Scholars also arranged for her to meet with two early childhood education professionals who advised her about her career. “Upward Scholars is part of my family now,” Viridiana says. “I'll remember you always.”

Amado
Civil engineer, project manager, and college graduate

"When I came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2011, I couldn’t communicate in English. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have any experience in this country,” explains Upward Scholars alum Amado Flores. 

Soon after arriving, Amado got a job in a restaurant that paid $8 an hour. He also enrolled in Sequoia Adult School and then transferred to Cañada College, graduating three years later with an associate degree in engineering. That Fall he enrolled in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo majoring in civil engineering. 

In June 2019, Amado graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly SLO. Two months later he was hired as a project engineer at WebCor Builders, a San Francisco-based general contractor, and is now an application engineer at Dayton Superior in Livermore

Upward Scholars paid for Amado's books during his time at Cañada, along with the bus pass he needed before he could afford a car. 

 “What is amazing to me about this country is that there are people here who are willing to help people they don’t know, without judging them, without saying, ‘Oh, you are undocumented. Oh, you are Mexican. Oh, you are too old to go to school’.” Amado says, “Thanks to these people, I have been able to achieve what I didn’t believe I could achieve.”