Senior shows leadership in helping the community
Almost everyday after school she would drive to the small blue building right next to Flamson and would be greeted with a ruckus of screeches and complaints about homework fill her ears as she sees the blue tables cluttered with an array of backpacks. Slowly making her way around to every five year old in her care, that she almost treats as her own and finds comfort in the company and at peace,. She found her home away from home by helping her community at the boys and girls club and retirement home, and was able to find her escape from her preconceived labels.This is senior Maria Anguiano.
Anguiano joined Key Club her sophomore year and has a total of 450 hours of community service. Throughout all three years of being a member, she has more hours than any other member. She soon became president of the club and gained the respect from the other members. Yet she didn’t stop there. She nearly tripled membership and increased member retention throughout her presidency. Along with organizing club expo booths, more community service opportunities for members, and planning the Key Club Fashion Show that raised $700 for the club.
“I like doing community service because I like seeing people’s expressions and how their face lights up after the day is done,” Anguiano said, which is why she chose to join Key Club because it offered more opportunities to help.
“She would sign up to almost all the events we hosted, and help me come up with different service projects, fundraisers,, and fun club events for our members. Maria has been a great leader and I admire the fact that she’s always looking for improvement in our club and follows up with members,” said senior Vianette Mendoza, who was the Lieutenant Governor for Key Club this year and worked closely with Anguiano.
Mendoza isn’t the only one who’s seen Maria’s accomplishments. Senior Addy Ursulo, who has been her best friend since they were three, agrees.
“Maria helps me a lot, if it wasn’t for her I don’t think I would be graduating this year,” Ursulo said
Anguiano fell victim to preconceived stereotypes that came with being who she is, from her own family and the world around her trying not to conform to certain family traditions.
“My biggest feat in high school has been to educate my parents on the benefits of me going to college,” said Anguiano, who constantly had to fight for her further education, “The biggest obstacle was to have my parents understand that I wanted to go to college and because of the endless respect and love I have for them, I agreed to not push their limits and give them time to understand the transition that would be happening.”
Anguiano had to pro
ve to her parents that she belonged here in the states and she had something to prove, rather than going back to her parents hometown back in San Juan, Mexico, and not conforming to traditional cultural views.
Her parents were worried since she is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals student, DACA for short which is an american immigration policy that exempts students from deportation for a certain amount of time, and feared that at some point she would have to be deported, making it impossible for her to go to college. Which she had to prove that it wasn’t a worry and that she would be able to make this happen.
But she couldn’t have done this alone and gives much credit to her success to her AVID family, which aids students on their journey to college.
“Within the AVID class she’s certainly someone others look up to and follow her example, she’s a leader that other want to emulate,” said Wagner, who is Anguiano’s favorite teacher, “She for one has been through a lot of difficult situations facing a lot of adversity and to get to this point as a senior… she got into Cal Poly and she has aspirations to go into the medical field. I think she will definitely meet her goals. She’s driven, she’s determined, she’s honest, she’s also really involved in the community. She does community service so much that it’s a part of her life.”
Anguiano aspires to be a pediatrician and be able to work at a health center to help low income families get the assistance they need, because she sees the need even in our own community.
She plans doing this by attending Cal Poly in the fall, and majoring in Nutrition, to further her education in topics such as proper exercise, physiology.
Along with the other people in Maria’s life, her sister, sophomore Lupita Anguiano, has the upmost respect for her older sister.
“Determined, stubborn, caring, overachieving, and willing. She’s the type of person [that] once she sets her mind on something, she gets it done, and she won’t change her mind about it. She’s always there for the people she loves and will do anything for them. She sometimes shows off but she does this without even noticing. She just does more than what is expected,” Lupita said.
Anguiano has much love for the world around her and has become ready for anything that was coming.
“I think the most valuable lesson that I have learned in high school is to do things for myself that I actually enjoy doing. And to put in effort to everything I do because you never know who’s watching,” Anguiano said.
