After winning enough money to cover a bachelor's degree through the All-USA Scholarship, Christopher Figueroa’s dream of giving back to his hometown of Pomona, California is closer to becoming a reality.
The All-USA Scholarship is awarded to community college students each year who display academic excellence and leadership achievements in their communities. This scholarship provides its winners with the money to pursue their bachelor’s degree at a four-year Arizona university.
The award covers four consecutive semesters, enough for him to complete his bachelor's at the Arizona State University’s West campus in social and behavioral sciences, Figueroa said.
Figueroa, who is now 27, said he came to Paradise Valley Community College in the fall of 2015 and will graduate with his associate’s degree in spring.
He said he chose ASU not only because of the location but also because of the program it offers to him to pursue his goals.
After his bachelor's, Figueroa plans to get his master’s degree and start a nonprofit organization to help youth in troubled areas get their education.
Figueroa said many members of his family were involved in gangs in Pomona, including his father, and by the time he was 17, three of his uncles had been killed by gang-related violence.
“When I was 15, I began to glorify (gang) lifestyle,” he said. “I dressed the part, and I thought it was cool when my dad would hang out with his friends and I would come too.”
Figueroa said that he knew he needed to show the kids around him a better life.
“I needed to change what was happening in my family,” he said.
He said he realized that he did not want to be a part of the gang lifestyle and wanted to instead help the youth in this area by showing them how to pursue their goals.
Figueroa moved to Arizona with his mother, who wanted to get him out of the dangerous environment of his hometown. Figueroa said his mother had always pushed education and reading, so when he came to Arizona, she wanted him to be in school.
Figueroa’s younger brother Jeffrey said Christopher was very independent as a kid and was the first to move out of the house. Jeffrey said that his elder brother “always wanted to achieve a higher understanding of things and life as a whole. He always wanted to be his own man."
Figueroa graduated from Humanities and Sciences High School in Tempe and after that worked full-time for five years at a Verizon store.
In fall of 2015, when he was 25, Figueroa said he decided to go to school at Paradise Valley Community College. In his first year he met his psychology teacher-turned-mentor, Caron Sada.
“You could see his wisdom and social intelligence right away,” she said.
Sada said on the first day of class, Figueroa sat front and center and was not afraid to participate in any activity and was open to any opportunity, she said.
Figueroa then joined a club, in which Sada is the faculty adviser, called Club Zeitgeist. He soon became president.
Sada said the club helps “you focus on your strengths and learn to manage your weaknesses.” Through this club, Figueroa was able to strengthen his mentoring skills and became a student mentor for others going to Paradise Valley Community College.
Figueroa said he works toward helping other students succeed and that his leadership experience put him ahead of other applicants for the All-USA Scholarship, which is offered by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
Figueroa said his leadership resume includes being an honors leader who helped in a diversity and inclusion program on campus and acting as a peer mentor who helped other students achieve educational success.
He said these leadership positions helped him gain the experience he needs to eventually start his non-profit career.
Figueroa said he would like to start a nonprofit for youth in Phoenix to help them finish or receive their educations. By the time he has a master's degree, he said he wants to expand the program back to Pomona.
He said his program might be able to help kids like him who flirted with joining the gang lifestyle.
“I’m going to take what I have learned and give it back to where I grew up,” he said.
Reach the reporter at Karenna.Guzman@asu.edu or follow @karenna_guzman on Twitter.
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