In fourth grade, Guillermo moved to San Francisco from El Salvador with his family. “When I moved here I didn’t speak English and had to go to the Mission Ed Immersion school to develop those skills and learn how the educational system worked,” said Guillermo. “It was really hard. I didn’t know anyone, missed my friends in El Salvador, and had a hard time speaking English.”
It wasn’t until middle school when things started to change for Guillermo. “I went to Gateway Middle School and the teachers there really supported me and helped me develop my reading, writing, and speaking skills,” said Guillermo. “They were always pushing me, especially Ms. Colen who would encourage me to read books, which I ended up really enjoying.”
At Gateway High School, Guillermo was encouraged to be true to himself, to do more, and push his learning by taking honors and AP classes. He also secured a paid internship in the marketing department at Salesforce through Gateway’s partnership with Genesys Works, a nonprofit that provides pathways to career success in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships.
He will attend Boston University in the fall of 2018 with the aspiration of moving into fashion design, which has been an interest of Guillermo’s since he was a child and learned how to sew from his grandma in El Salvador.
“I didn’t realize how much work I was actually putting into my education because Gateway made learning really fun and interactive,” said Guillermo. “I never imagined that I would be going to college, on the East Coast, on a four-year scholarship, majoring in business because I was all over the place and struggling to learn who I was when I first started school.”
“Gateway saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” said Guillermo. “Now I see what they saw and I believe in myself. All the work I put in at school and the challenges I faced head on in my life have paid off.”