Despite the challenges he has faced throughout his young life, 18-year-old Sergio Gonzalez continues to impress us with his achievements. A youth in foster care at our El Nido residential campus, Sergio was earning Cs and Ds before coming to Sycamores. Today he is a straight A student and was named Student of the Month at Rose City High School. His most recent triumph was being selected by the Pasadena Tournament Roses as a 2022 ROSE Scholar.
This year, with the support of Citizens Business Bank, eight graduating seniors from the Pasadena Unified School District were selected as ROSE Scholars, each receiving a $2,500 scholarship. ROSE Scholars is a program designed to help students in our community thrive and to foster their potential. As part of the application for the scholarship, students submitted creative pieces reflecting their future dreams, goals, and aspirations. After finishing high school next month, Sergio will be attending Pasadena City College, where he plans to study photography. He has served on the Student Leadership Board at his high school while also leading a food ministry for his church. In his spare time, Sergio enjoys photography and playing video games. His goals are to finish college with degrees in photography and editing, with dreams of working for National Geographic one day. His team at Sycamores is extremely proud of Sergio and excited to see what his future holds!
To learn more about Sergio’s personal journey, his resiliency, and the positive difference Sycamores has made in his life, we invite you to watch this short video.