Scholarship Recipients

Nestor Sanchez was born in Yorba Linda, California. Due to financial troubles during his eighth grade year, he moved to Fresno, but after two years in high school, he dropped out. "For two long years I was throwing my life away," he said. Nestor and his mom needed food, so he would help out at a community food bank where he felt like he was doing something important. After months of helping out there, Nestor overheard one of the staff members talking about a program where you could acquire a high school diploma and gain some employment experience. He said that his first thought was, “Oh my goodness! I need to act on this and ask the lady for more information about this program." She asked Nestor if he had a high school diploma or a job, and he explained that he did not. She gave him papers to fill out and the date to return for the orientation. Nestor was terrified to take this leap of faith. He said, "I was uneducated, so I knew this new environment was going to be grueling for me since I was very antisocial and I never had a job." Nestor said he had difficulties communicating and asserting himself at first, but he decided to focus on himself because he knew this new road was going to be difficult. However, he began to flourish at YouthBuild. As the time drew closer and closer to his graduation, he realized it was time to pick a career. During the previous year, he had served on the SEKI crew (Sequoia & Kings Canyon), which involved working in the woods all week during the summer. SEKI's specialty is to making trails from scratch, felling trees, bucking, construction of fences, digging trenches, hiking miles to a worksite, going into back country, and staying at that location for a month. After the summer was done, Nestor still didn’t know what he wanted to become. He asked himself, “What am I good at? What do I love doing?” That’s when it hit him, literally. "From that moment I recognized that I wanted a career in Fire Service," said Nestor, who plans to obtain a job at the Forest Service. Nestor's plan is to work for a season, save enough money, and then study at Reedley College. His major will be Forestry and Natural Resources. After finishing that program, he plans to work for another year at the Forest Service to gain the experience needed to join the Sierra Hotshots. "Well, at least that's my plan" said Nestor, "but life is life and anything can happen. All I know is that I’m going to try my best at everything that I do."

 

 

Alex Villa is a 26-year-old graduate of YCSC's Fresno campus. Alex is passionate about skateboarding. "After 13 years, it has really turned into my second nature. I can’t go anywhere without my skateboard," he said. Skateboarding gave Alex a sense of freedom within himself that he could not find anywhere else. In fact, skateboarding has led him down a career path to become an architectural engineer. He chose this field of study for many reasons, but was motivated by the fact that his town currently has no indoor skate parks. "Coming from a skater’s perspective, it’s a bummer always trying to find somewhere dry to skate," said Alex, "and half the time we get kicked out because it's either somewhere we can’t or shouldn’t be skating." Alex wants to become an architectural engineer so that he can build his own skate shop from the ground up with its own indoor skate park. That way skateboarders young and old could have somewhere safe to skate and learn together and somewhere they can skate on those rainy days. Alex wants to turn the old buildings and warehouses in his town into something new that could bring the community closer together. "I believe skateboarding can bring together people of all races," said Alex. "There’s no discrimination between skaters, and I have met a lot of my closest friends because of skateboarding. My heart tells me I can create a place to bring people together through skateboarding." Alex is currently taking classes at Fresno City College.

Brian Blandon has lived all his life in Los Angeles, CA. He attends Los Angeles Trade Tech College and is in the welding program. Further on, he would like to become an engineer. The person who inspires him to go further is his mother; she’s taught him to persevere through thick and thin because she raised six kids on her own. In his spare time, he likes to enjoy his days exercising and playing basketball, baseball, or soccer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Laredo was born and raised just east of LAX airport in Lennox, CA. Currently, he attends El Camino College in Torrance and he is majoring in welding with aspirations of working in the aerospace industry. He has always expressed interest in technical things, such as designing parts, taking measurements, cutting pieces, and working on projects with his hands. Mr. Laredo passes by SpaceX everyday on his bus ride to school which keeps him focused on why he studies. His admiration for space exploration, which is made possible through human invention, is what inspires him to be part of that mission. Michael hopes to one day have his welds on the surface of Mars. When free time is available, Michael enjoys reading random articles on various topics such as nuclear fission and how heat and light is made in our sun as well as watching documentaries and tv shows like Cosmos.

 

 

Edgar M. Gonzalez was born in Michoacan, Mexico but migrated to LA as a child seeking a better life. He currently attends Santa Monica City College and hopes to major in Political Science and become a politician. He also hopes to transfer to UCLA soon. He wants to change the world for the better and help the proletariat. He is inspired by socialism and his one-year-old daughter. He is a full time McDonald's employee and organizer with the Fight for $15 LA campaign and SEIU 721. In his free time, he likes to record and produce music or attend political events.

 

 

Gloria Carrasco was born in San Fernando,CA and was raised most of her life in Inglewood,CA. She is currently enrolled at El Camino College and is planning to major in Cosmetology as a short-term goal and Fashion Design as a long-term goal.  She wants to use these careers to help and impact lives by exposing the true potential behind the beauty of it all. Her inspirations have also come from her teacher Ms.Julia and her advocate Ms.Maria because they have guided her to turn into this strong women she is becoming to help her succeed towards her future. In her free time she likes to re/create art, spend quality time with her loved ones and loves to take pictures/videos of her travels!

 

 

 

Sanjay Stoney was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. He will attend El Camino College in the fall of 2015, so that he can study and prepare himself to be a registered nurse. His dream job is to work in a hospital and help patients overcome illness and get them back on their feet. The person who inspires him is his mother because she is always supportive of what he does, and she knows that he always puts one hundred percent in the tasks he needs to accomplish. He also cannot forget his YouthBuild family, which motivates him to become a better person. In his spare time, he read books and hangs out with his friends at the mall or theatre.

 

 

 

 

Tylor S. Sewell is from Los Angeles and is a graduate of South LA YouthBuild/ CRCD Academy. He is a current student at Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC) where he is studying Real Estate. Tylor's dream job is to become an investor because he is interested in business administration. He is inspired by himself and his son. His son gives him hope. In his free time, he likes to watch sports, listen to music, and play with his son.