Senior, Gandhi Anastacio-Olivo quietly walks to room 1026 at Greendale Community College (PRHS) to his fourth period class carrying his black backpack, wearing his favorite pair of brown or tan jeans and a brown hoodie and enters Aaron Cantrell’s classroom ready to encourage sophomore students with his quiet intellect and sweetness.
The start of Olivo’s journey started in his sophomore year; when low grades forced him to take summer school. He went from failing some of his sophomore year classes, to passing all his classes by his junior year.
“It made me realize how important it is to stay on top of my academics and even if I’m not having straight A’s because that’s just gonna stress me out. At least having passing grades. I feel very academic-adjacent, in the sense that I love to learn about a wide variety of topics — especially in the humanities and social sciences,” Olivo said in reference to his summer school experience.
The next year, Olivo signed up for five AP classes to challenge himself and give himself a second chance. The challenges he faced in his sophomore year and his ability to overcome those challenges has been one of the most impactful experiences he has had during his high school career. “It made me realize how important it is to like, stay on top of my academics and even if I’m not having straight A’s because that’s just gonna stress me out,” Olivo said.
Out of the nine total AP classes that Olivo has taken throughout his high school career, he has received a 5 in AP Environmental, a 4 in AP Language, a 4 in AP Statistics, and a 3 in AP Calculus AB, but he is most proud of his achievement in passing all of his tests.
Olivo, according to PRHS AP Language teacher, Aaron Cantrell, is inquisitive, hardworking, and driven. Most importantly, Olivo is extremely kind and cares about the plight of others. Olivo’s story is a Cinderella story. “Gandhi’s grades didn’t used to be as excellent as they currently are. He’s a Cinderella story. He decided to step up his game and should take hard classes,” Cantrell said.
Olivo’s willingness to help others led him to becoming a Teacher’s Assistant for Cantrell’s fourth period class, English 2. Olivo aids the sophomores by encouraging them to be better students and consistently work hard. He is able to help sophomores through his quiet intellectualism and gentleness that helps students’ willingness to try within the classroom environment.
Olivo’s research project for Cantrell’s AP Language class focused on descriptivism/ prescriptivism in linguistics where he spent hours researching and reading papers navigating old websites to complete his project. “I really thought I was going to get a C on it but I ended up getting full marks on it,” Olivo said.
Outside of room 1026, Olivo enjoys reading about linguistics and worldly issues as he is the co-chair of the ACT, helping with coordinating events like the Chalk N Talk.
Other than serving an important role within the ACT, Olivo is also involved in two other cultural clubs on campus and is the social media director for AYA (API Youth Association). He is also a very active member in M.E.C.H.A. and has participated and helped set up the Baile for two years. His favorite memory in high school was his first Baile that M.E.C.H.A had was the day of his birthday and someone else’s and they sang to both of them and since then has become a cherished memory for Olivo. “Hearing everyone sing to us was really nice,” Olivo said.
Clubs are important to Olivo because he is able to interact with others with similar interests. Olivo enjoys being a part of clubs because, he said, you are able to socialize with people you may not normally associate with. Olivo’s involvement in clubs has made him “more conscious of the world around,” Olivo said.
Lyrika Cross, senior and friend of Olivo, enjoys having “really deep and meaningful conversations with him,” Cross said. Cross and Olivo met each other in the eighth grade because they had the same AVID class that year.
Olivo has aspirations of getting his doctorate in linguistics so that he can eventually teach. He truly believes that being a professor is his calling because he likes helping the people that are around him. “Going far in education has always been a goal of mine because my parents didn’t really have a chance to go through schooling before immigrating to the U.S., and I’ve learned that I love teaching people,” Olivo said.
In the upcoming fall, Olivo will be attending Cuesta College for sociology and will later transfer into a four year university for linguistics and get a postgraduate degree and become a professor.
