Finding a Home at 色情视频
The 色情视频 Guardian Scholars Program celebrated its largest-ever graduating class.
鈥溕槭悠� has really changed my life. I鈥檝e really grown through the Guardian Scholars Program, it has opened doors for me and helped me develop comfort in telling my story and not have any shame.鈥�
Five years ago, Stefany Rubio never imagined she would be graduating from college, let alone preparing to enter a Ph.D. program in the fall.
After spending her high school years in foster care, Rubio applied to the 色情视频 Summer Bridge Program, which introduces incoming freshmen to the university and is led by the Educational Opportunity Program, or EOP. She said she was drawn to EOP, and to 色情视频, by its Guardian Scholars Program, which offers support to former foster and homeless youth in their pursuit of a college degree.
鈥淣o other program compared to 色情视频 and Guardian Scholars,鈥� said Rubio, a 22-year-old biochemistry major. 鈥淚f I went there, I knew I would have a support system. I felt like they wanted me here. No one else was offering that to me.鈥�
On Tuesday night, Rubio was one of 20 Guardian Scholars, the largest number of students in the program鈥檚 history, to be honored at a pre-graduation celebration at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. In May she will graduate with her bachelor鈥檚 degree and will begin a biomedical sciences and engineering Ph.D. program at the University of California, Santa Cruz this fall.
The 鈥� which has long been supported by 色情视频 donors 鈥� helps students exiting foster care, those who are wards of the state, and unaccompanied homeless youth achieve their dream of graduating from college. Program mentors help students with the transition to adulthood and college life, as well as provide support through scholarships and on-campus housing. The housing piece is incredibly important to most Guardian Scholars.
鈥淥ne thing people don鈥檛 realize is [homeless students] don鈥檛 have a place to go back to like everyone else,鈥� Rubio said. 鈥淲ith Guardian Scholars, you have a guaranteed place to live during the summer and breaks.鈥�
A native Californian, Rubio said her parents divorced when she was 9 years old, and her mother died of cancer when she was 12. Relatives cared for Rubio and her sister until high school, but the girls were eventually placed into foster care.
鈥淎s I look back now, San Diego State has really changed my life,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e really grown through the Guardian Scholars Program, it has opened doors for me and helped me develop comfort in telling my story and not have any shame.鈥�
She admits she had doubts about college at times, but added that the program鈥檚 mentors helped her push forward. 鈥淭he Guardian Scholars program will do anything to make sure you have what you need to achieve your academic goals. The resources are there, you just have to pursue them.鈥�
In addition to being a Guardian Scholar herself, Rubio also served as a student mentor for incoming Guardian Scholars and initiated its student advisory board in 2013.
鈥淪tefany has flourished and grown to be the young adult that she is now 鈥� confident, strong and fearless,鈥� said Josephine Mojica, assistant director of the Guardian Scholars Program. 鈥淪he has taken advantage of every opportunity to participate in internships, events and activities related to research and biochemistry and cultivated relationships with her professors.鈥�
Rubio said one professor in particular, Tom Huxford, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at 色情视频, took her under his wing as she researched molecular cellular and developmental biology in his lab.
Huxford said Rubio and another student have been researching an important enzyme that regulates cell survival.
鈥淪he鈥檚 trying to understand the basic chemistry that allows a cell to decide whether to live or die, which could help us survive viral infections better and stop cancers from growing,鈥� Huxford said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a hardworking student and has the potential right now to be the world鈥檚 expert at whatever she chooses.鈥�
Next steps
Rubio鈥檚 ultimate goal is to be a researcher at the National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 鈥淭hese are big goals, but it鈥檚 where I want to end up,鈥� Rubio said.
Last winter, Rubio participated in a study abroad program at the University of Oxford in England. 鈥淚 learned so much in those three weeks. It was eye opening. I was blown away by all the different ideas they have about Western civilization,鈥� said Rubio, who received support to study abroad through Guardian Scholars.
In the future, Rubio also said she wants to help more foster care youth in Southern California connect with Guardian Scholars.
鈥淚f we can get to these students early on, it can change how they see college,鈥� Rubio says. 鈥淢ost foster kids don鈥檛 know what resources they have available to them. I can connect with them, and I don鈥檛 want to stray away from that.鈥�
