(Winter 2018) – Mauricio didn’t always think he was going to make it to college. He was smart, self-aware, and knew the odds he faced. He’d reviewed the statistics and the outlook didn’t look good as a member of a low-income, immigrant family, where he will be the first to graduate from college.
Nonetheless he put in eight years of hard work at SMART, challenging each barrier as it came with the support of his close-knit peer group and a staff that became personally invested in his success.
Now Mauricio is a Sophomore at the University of Puget Sound, having earned a spot in the prestigious Posse program which awarded him a full-tuition leadership scholarship.
He has thrown himself into the academic and social environment of the university, already holding the position of Co-President in Latinos Unidos, the Latino student organization on campus.
Despite attending college nearly 800 miles away, SMART will always be a second home to Mauricio. He returned over the summer of 2017, assisting with the Summer Academic Enrichment Program and supporting the next generation of SMART Scholars.
“SMART has been the main support system I’ve had since before middle school. My biggest concern right now is lack of diversity around me, and SMART prepared me to be in those spaces early on … They helped me get comfortable expressing opinions in a room full of people who don’t know what struggling in life means.”
