A first-generation college graduate, former student-athlete, and exercise science major, Garvey Buchongo has a passion for running after her dreams and giving back to her community.
A first-generation college student, Damian Garcia describes going to college as a “necessary experience” and one that further developed his skills and provided a path to his current career in the tech industry in San Francisco.
“In high school, a 5.5-mile bridge separated my life between two different worlds,” says Yessenia. “During the day, I attended a private high school in Marin County where wealth surfaced the city. At night, the sound of fireworks and gunshots were an undistinguishable noise in Richmond. It was then that I became curious to explore the wide range of inequalities in both worlds I lived in,” says Yessenia, who also recalls the significance of reading the Wave-Maker Affirmation—a declaration of guiding principles for Making Waves students—starting in 5th grade.
When Jose C. was in the fourth grade and his mother brought him to an interview to join the Making Waves Education Program, he didn’t realize it would change his trajectory for the next 12 plus years. Upon graduating from high school in San Francisco, Jose received continued support from Making Waves through a scholarship and one-on-one coaching for college. Now, he has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of California, Merced, and works as an Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) and volunteer firefighter in the Bay Area.
Part of the ‘7th Wave’ of students in the then Making Waves Education Program, Carol T. become interested in the combination of the sciences and human rights at an early age. Carol’s interest quickly grew into passion. She is now a first-year internal medicine resident physician at Highland Hospital in Oakland after earning her bachelor’s degree in the history of science at Harvard University and Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of California, San Francisco.
In this month’s College Success Institute Q&A, Courtney Arguello, lead career and alumni coach of Making Waves Foundation’s College and Alumni Program, or CAP, discusses the challenges and opportunities for newly degreed Wave-Makers.
This month, we reached out to Theresa Atta Ifogah, Senior Director, Community Impact & Partnerships at Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), to learn how they
When asked to trace the source of her strength and success, Jamaya Walker (12th Wave) immediately thinks of her mother: “My mom is like superwoman. I can’t afford to
Our guest host Courtney Arguello, the lead career and alumni coach at Making Waves’ college success program (CAP), assembled a group of four alumni who graduated college in 2020 and were able to find full-time jobs despite COVID-19’s impact on
For an in-depth view of how COVID-19 is impacting college access and success professionals at the institutional level, we reached out to Karin Elliott, Executive
Dear College Success colleagues, This blog series has focused on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on low-income students and their ability to successfully
15th Waver Britney, a sophomore at UC Berkeley, took a step towards her goal of becoming an architect through a summer internship with Studio Bondy
