The following are college essays submitted during the application process by previous DCP students now attending a four-year college.

Anabel Ortiz
Nora Lombrera
Sarai Renteria
Yesenia Garcia

Student: Anabel Ortiz
Class: 2005
College: U.C. Santa Cruz

Academic Preparation
In Junior High School I received C's and F's, but never questioned why. It wasn't that I couldn't get A's or B's, but I had not been given the proper tools or motivation to succeed. My decision to attend Downtown College Prep has significantly impacted my views about my future. Being surrounded by other Latinos who fell into the stereotypical stories that still exist made me realize how much I wanted to change. Finding a school that was going to prepare me for the journey I was about to take was easier than I thought.

In eighth grade, I attended a recruitment meeting for DCP. Their mission of preparing underachieving students to thrive at a four-year university was very appealing and did not seem difficult at the time. The long 9am-5pm days, the khaki uniform, the different structure, high expectations, and taking 5 of the 6 honors and AP classes available were a great challenge for a young Latina like me.

With the help of DCP, I have come a long way. I now feel fortunate to have found a school that focused on helping me achieve my dreams. I am a mature, responsible, self-confident, and academically prepared senior and feel that I can face any challenge in college. After all I've overcome, I feel prepared for what is yet to come.

Potential to Contribute
As a student at Downtown College Prep, I have taken advantage of many great opportunities to grow as a person and a student and have gained many leadership and work related skills in the process. Last summer I was an intern at Latinas Contra Cancer (LCC). LCC is a non-profit organization that offers affordable services to those who have been or are at risk of being diagnosed with cancer. I worked at LCC because I wanted to help make a change.

My job was to create a library for LCC patients in only a month and a half. I also answered calls, learning patience and how to communicate with others. I had to attend meetings with librarians from the city library to learn how to create and organize a library. I also had to report what LCC had in stock and create an electronic copy of the library to post on the LCC website. I did successfully complete this task. LCC now has its own library . Working there made me realize I can make a difference in the Latino community; all it takes is commitment and hard work.

Open-ended.
Even as a young girl I always told my parents that I was going to attend college. It wasn't until I began to do well in high school that my parents and siblings started to take me seriously. Once they saw the change in me and my grades they realized college was what I really wanted, and that I wasn't going to give up until I achieved it. It took a lot of convincing, but now my family supports and respects my decision. My parents never pursued a higher education, but accomplished a lot. To me my parents are the best role models one can have. I have seen and lived all the obstacles they had to overcome. My parents came to this country when I was only a couple months old. Being undocumented, we had to face many obstacles. Not only did we have to deal with discrimination, but also a different culture and language. My parents however, did not let this interfere with accomplishing the American Dream. I learned Spanish and English almost simultaneously. I spoke Spanish at home and English at my preschool center. Having to work two jobs and still being unable to rent a room was only the beginning. We were all forced to sleep in a small car with no windows that my dad used to own. Yet, even when I was in preschool I told my parents I was going to attend college. I wanted to go to college and get a good job so I would be able to afford a home for my family.

Although they]ve never verbally influenced me to go to college, their accomplishments have been my motivation. I admire and respect my parents very much, but I wouldn't want to suffer as much as they had to, simply because they didn't receive a good education.

Thanks to their sacrifices I now have the opportunities they never had. Going to a four-year University would not only give me the proper education to succeed in life, but also help me set a new tradition in my family. As the first to attend college it won't be easy, but definitely worth it. Knowing that I have a niece and nephew that look up to me motivates me each day. As teenage parents, my brother and sister-in-law struggled to manage both high school and two jobs. They were both on independent studies and finished high school. My sister-in-law wanted to go to college but her responsibilities with my niece were a major obstacle. To this day she still hopes to go back to school some day and set an example for her children. Meanwhile, she is constantly advising me to try my hardest and not let any obstacles stand in my way to college.

However, being Latina and breaking the stereotypical studies within my family has been challenging. I will be the first in my immediate and extended family to apply and meet all the requirements to attend a four-year university. Because my parents received only an elementary school education, I have had to struggle through my homework on my own without being able to ask them for any help. I come from a family of four, and I am the youngest.

Unfortunately my older siblings stopped school after finishing high school. Therefore, I was led to push myself to be successful in my academics and extra curricular activities. I have come along way with very minimal support from my family since college is not a tradition in my home.

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Student: Nora Lombrera
Class: 2004
College: CSU Monterey Bay

New Life
A turning point in my life was in 2000, when I came from Mexico to the United States. Adapting to a new culture was not easy. Hearing a different language, knowing new people, getting used to a new school system - all of these were very hard for me. I felt like a stranger, a stranger in an unknown place.

Coming from Mexico at the age of fifteen was hard. First of all, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to come. My life was in Mexico: I had friends, my school, my house and my family. But I was convinced to come by sister and mother, and so I left my old life to start a new one. I was scared. I didn't know anyone except my family, and I felt that I was leaving a big part of myself in Mexico. I thought that I wasn't ever going to get used to the new culture and that I would soon go back to Mexico and see my friends again.

However, I did not just give up. When I arrived in San Jose, I knew that the first thing I had to do was to look for a school. My aunt recommended Downtown College Prep, a high school that prepares students to thrive at four-year universities. I did everything to get into DCP. The first day of school I felt bad because I did not speak a word of English and I did not know anyone. I felt that I did not belong. I wanted to go home because I felt like everyone was looking at me. I felt uncomfortable. But then I realized that I had to be brave, I had to confront and overcome my shyness. That is when I started to make friends.

Now I have studied for three years at DCP, I understand English, and I have good grades. Although I had to study hard, I feel good because I am doing my best to achieve my goal, which is to go to college. I want to be the first in my family to do it!

I want to be someone in life, perhaps a pediatrician or a teacher, and certainly someone who works with children, and I also want my family to be proud of me, especially my mother because she is the one who has always encouraged me to study.

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Student: Saraí Rentería
Class: 2005
College: U.C. Riverside

My mother turned back to look at our home in Mexico. I had been told that we were going for a short while to the U.S. for my parents to earn money. I hadn't even felt the need to say bye to my friends. But as she paused and gazed back, I suddenly knew and understood that that goodbye was forever.

The values and lessons that have guided my life are a change of country and language, and my desire to be a role model for my brother and the Latino community.

It became obvious to me that the real reason for our move was my mother's desperate need to separate from my father. My parents began the divorce procedures and my mother began to deal with the frightening reality of raising children in a new country alone. Since they could not find a good school for me in Phoenix, where we were living, they sent me to San Jose to live with my uncle. I did not want to move again, and leave my parents in Arizona with my brother seeing my mom's depression and my dad's aggression, because I was afraid that was going to affect my brother psychologically.

However, I needed to help my mother. She had come to the U.S. to pursue a better life for herself and her children. Flunking my classes and refusing to go to a different school could only have added to her problems. Therefore, I decided to put my fears aside, leave my family and move to San Jose.

It was very difficult to leave without my mother and brother. However, my uncle and aunt took good care of me; they sent me to school, which is Downtown College Prep. My first school year in the United States began at DCP. I knew no English. I remember my first period Math reasoning. I knew the most of the class material that the teacher was talking about, like the formulas, but the problem was that I could not understand anything of what she was saying. I was afraid to change classes because I did not know what to do next and I was afraid that someone was going to speak to me and I was not going to understand what they were saying: I was just anxious for the day to end. Finally, my cousin came and she walked me to the next class. Since I did not know English, I had to take home my notes and homework for my cousin to translate for me everyday. I felt that I was wasting her time, so I started trying by myself. In class I was afraid to participate because I did not have the right words to express what I wanted to say, therefore my attitude in class was hesitant. I passed my classes, but the school required me to take an extra English class the following year to make up my English one requirement.

In my sophomore year, the school assigned me two English classes, Latino Literature and English two, and Geometry as my main classes. The summer after that year, I spent doing Algebra two in order to get advanced higher-level math classes. The next year I finally got the opportunity to have a normal schedule.

Junior year I decided what classes I wanted to take because I was done with the basic classes. I decided to take Honors English, Pre Calculus, and AP Spanish. It was not easy to push myself to this higher level because of my recent arrival and especially because of my English, which I am still learning.

My involvement in the community inside and outside of school is opening my eyes to what it is to be a dedicated and responsible individual, and to be a leader. In Mexico, I did not know it was good for me to volunteer, or how good it was when you were a leader. Now I am playing three sports per year and I was chosen to be the leader in some of them. It is a pleasure to share with my teammates, and see what a big difference you make in people's lives just by keeping up your good work. Being a leader and a helper in society is not just a routine; it is something to enjoy. Since I am also a sociable person, every year I am involved I at least two clubs per year. I have been in clubs like Youth and Philanthropy, National Honor Society, Dance Committee, Yearbook, etc. This has helped me improve my attitude. My internship after my junior year was a professional experience because I got to work in an office learning about marketing; and my current McDonald's job as well have encouraged me to go to college and become a responsible and dedicated person in every single way. All these activities are preparing me for my next step, college, where I am going to achieve my goal to study. I want to pay back my community that helped me when I came and I want to help Latinos that sometimes are unfairly treated.

My mother always had her hope in me, and it is my desire to become successful in life. Her life was difficult because she did not have the support of her parents. She says that money should not be an obstacle for my education. I do not want to destroy her hopes and my dreams to become successful in life; no matter if I have to try a million times I would never stop. I thank my mother for all her support, love and trust, my brother for trying to follow my steps and letting me be a good example for him, and God for letting me get to the top of the mountain. My mother's values and my courage to keep going will help me achieve my dreams.

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Student: Yesenia Garcia
Class: 2005
College: Chico State

In middle school, when my grades started dropping and I stopped caring about school, my parents heard of a school called Downtown College Prep (DCP), a school my uncle claimed was going to prepare me four a four-year university. The fact that my parents were going to send me to DCP, a place where I had to wear a uniform and be in school from 9 a.m. to 5p.m., without my consent, made me furious with them. No way was I going to go to a school-a school where none of my friends were going. No way was I going to take the bus back and forth to school, adding an hour and a half to my day. Why would I do this when I could avoid all of this and walk for about 10 minutes to my local high school instead?

I actually did end up attending DCP and it was no long before I found new friends to hang around with and began to rebel against my parents. I began a stage of rebellion and started wearing a ton of makeup and slowly began hanging out with people who did not care about anything either. Tired of hearing my parents say that I was going to college no matter what 'quiero que seas alguien' (I want you to be something), their famous words that I had heard probably since I was born, something they had never had the chance to be. But whom was I supposed to be if I didn't even know who I was, what was I suppose to be if I did not know what I wanted to be? Stressed out by their demands, I broke down under peer pressure and just stopped caring about anything. I began living day by day like a zombie; I was there but not really there. Finally, I decided to seek advice so I went to the school counselor, Mr. Smith, who was one of the individuals who I believe helped me figure out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I figured that all I needed was somebody to sit with me and listen to me talk with out demanding me to do something. He made me question my life and see if that was what I wanted out of it, if that was what I wanted people to remember me by.

By this time, I was already half way through high school and I was beginning to figure out what I wanted, but I was still afraid to fail in school and let my parents down. I was hiding behind other people and staying average in the class and just doing what I was asked and not too much because I did not want to be noticed. I was diagnosed with a cyst, an illness that had developed cancer in my aunt and cost her, her life and the same disease that had developed in my mom, which she had to go through a risky surgery to get rid of. My family was terrified to know this and I was at the doctors at least three times a week getting different studies performed on me, trying to prevent another family tragedy.

It was not until the summer that I returned back to DCP as a junior that I realized I could accomplish more. If Mr. Lippman, who was my principal, believed in me since the day he met me with out knowing anything about me except that I was a lost soul who needed someone to believe in her. If my parents had said I was smarter that I thought, then maybe I should believe it and try. I finally realized that if so many people had trust in me, and believed I am smart then why not believe in myself and see what I could accomplish? Still afraid of failure, I took the safest path and enrolled only in the required classes I needed to take as a junior, but that was about to end very shortly. As the first semester ended and I made it to the honor roll for the first time, I was so thrilled that I finally decided to take charge of my life. Suddenly, I knew I was to take on the journey to a higher education and be somebody that later could come back to my community and help others the way Mr. Lippman, my parents and Mr. Smith did with me. By the second semester, I was studying my butt off for my test and once again made it to the honor roll, only this time I had one thing to brag about, I had gotten the highest grade in chemistry out of all my peers and my parents were already saying: 'te dije Yesenia que tu podías pero eras tan necia que no escuchabas a nadie' (I told you Yesenia, that you could do it but your were so hard headed). Yeah, it was true that they had always believed in me and that I had never listened to them or anybody, because that was not what I needed. I needed to believe in me in order to take charge of my life. I had to be the one to finally put a stop to my immaturity and fear of failing, which I did. That was why from the day I proved to myself that I was capable of getting A's I was determined to get as many A's as possible.

After all the obstacles and lessons I had to learn, I concluded that nothing was ever going to prevent me from getting where I wanted to go. Getting a higher education in something that would help me come back and help my community in ways that where going to better them, is one of my top priorities now. Being the first to finish high school and the first one to go to a university in my family is a great honor for me because I know my struggle has made a path for my sisters and other family members to follow. Having gone through everything by myself and learning by mistakes not by advice, will facilitate the road to a higher education for them because they now have me as a role model to come to if they ever need help. I can gratefully thank my parents and everyone else who believed in me, even when other people thought all I did was cause trouble. Hearing my parents say, 'te dije Yesenia que tu podías' (I told you you could do it Yesenia) now puts a smile on my face because I know that even when I thought I could not go on anymore they were there for me and will always be. Now I feel capable of taking on any challenge that is in front of me because I have the confidence and courage with in me to overcome what ever it is that I am faced with.