Big Dreams Are Within Reach of Youthful Scholars

Francisco Rivera does not let on that he was one of the very few graduating high school students in the country awarded the prestigious National Merit Scholarship this year or that he was the valedictorian of his class at St. Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge.

But his mother, Segunda Hiralda Rivera, will. She keeps all his school records, reports and awards from kindergarten up through the scholarship grants that the 17-year-old has just received to attend Harvard.

“I’m so proud,” she said, beaming.

Rivera plans to study biochemistry at Harvard and wants to become a pediatrician. He said treating children with health problems “would be really cool.”

He is one of 230 Latino students from Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties selected as Exceptional Scholars by the Los Angeles-based Youth Opportunities Foundation. The students, who include 30 valedictorians, are described by Felix Castro, YOF executive director, as the “cream of the crop” and the flan of Latino high school graduating seniors.

They have taken “steps toward their futures which places them in the mainstream of successful professional careers,” he said.

The students’ career dreams range from a concern with health issues and medical breakthroughs to interest in furthering the advancement of the Latino community.

Nearly a third of the students plan to major in engineering or science at college and to pursue such fields as electrical engineering and genetic research. Ramiro Medina Jr., who graduated No. 1 in his class at Compton High, wants to earn a doctorate, probably in biology, and dedicate himself to research.

In a scholarship application letter, he wrote that his dream is to help his community and everyone else through scientific research.

“If one day I can help mankind by finding a cure for such dreadful diseases as AIDS or cancer, I will have fulfilled that dream,” wrote Medina, whose family came to the United States from Mexico when he was 4.

Another 20% of the YOF honorees, such as St. Francis’ Rivera, have medical and health majors and careers in mind. Yet others plan college majors in business administration, education, communications, liberal arts and pre-law.

Some of the students, including Luz Herrera, hope that higher education will give them the skills to return to their community and improve conditions there, such as the local education systems.

“I’m very interested in working with the Hispanic community. I want to make changes and be involved in government to provide more opportunities for minorities,” said Herrera, who was student body president at Pioneer High School in Whittier. She plans to study political science at Stanford and later to enroll in law school.

The 1991 YOF scholars, in addition to having outstanding academic records, were active as student government officers, school newspaper and yearbook editors and athletes.

They and their families were honored at a luncheon last month at Luminarias Restaurant in Monterey Park. The event was sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and the Bank of America.

State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) gave the keynote address and congratulated the students for their success at a time when more than 40% of Latino students statewide are dropping out of high school. Torres encouraged the students to explore a career--or “just a few years”--in teaching so they could pass on their love of learning to the coming generation.

Ruben Navarrette Jr., a 1985 YOF scholar from Sanger, Calif., who completed Harvard last year, told the students that high school graduation is not “an end for you. It’s only a beginning” of challenges. He advised each of them to be “true to yourself” as he gave them a “snapshot of what you might experience in the next four or five years.”

Some of the students interviewed regarding their career preferences mentioned seeking good salaries, but more of them cited wanting to find an interesting and challenging occupation.

Thomas Martin, 18, who will study chemical engineering at UCLA, said he would not spend all the time and effort involved in that field if he did not enjoy it. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind having a Mercedes, but it takes dedication to do this,” he said.

Jack Guerrero, a fellow Bell High School student, won a special recognition by the family of Thelma Castro of Huntington Park, who died last year. In her memory, the family awarded checks of $500 to four students they interviewed and recognized for academic achievement and other special attributes.

Guerrero, for example, was singled out for his speaking ability and was called “the Art Torres of the year 2000” by George Castro, a money management specialist, who spoke for the family.

Other winners of the Thelma Castro Memorial Scholarship were Myrna Lopez of Venice High School, who speaks several languages and will study biochemical engineering at Yale; Compton High’s Medina, who will attend Stanford, and Rebecca Villalobos of Garfield High, who George Castro said combines “raw intelligence” and “the strongest people skills.” Villalobos will attend Stanford and hopes to go on into pediatric medicine.

Another YOF honoree, Martha Vargas, 18, is looking forward to studying communications at Columbia University. The Roosevelt High graduate decided on her career in junior high when she read the daily notices, like an anchorwoman, of an intra-school television channel.

Older brother Herminio Vargas, one of eight of Martha’s siblings, said he never had to push his sister to study or to be motivated for school.

“It was the opposite. I had to get on her case to not stay up until 3 a.m. doing her homework,” he said.

The family, Martha said, is rooting for her because she is the first one of them to have the opportunity to attend college.

“Right now, I’m just focusing on getting there. That’s it,” she said.

Rivera, who lives in Eagle Rock, said his parents were not able to finish high school because of family demands when they were growing up in Ecuador. They were the oldest children of their respective parents and had to quit school to work and help support the family. Now their child is one of 1,800 students nationwide who was awarded a $2,000 National Merit Scholarship. Rivera also received $1,500 from the National Hispanic Scholar Awards Program. He is also eligible, as are other YOF honorees, for scholarships to be awarded by the Youth Opportunities Foundation in the fall.

Rivera said both his parents dropped out of high school, but they “never stopped being hard workers. They worked. When (my father) was small, he didn’t have all he wanted and now he’s trying to give to me.”