When Kelvin Mejia began sixth grade, he never imagined that in just six years he would study French and art history in Paris. At San Miguel, however, he encountered teachers who urged him to dream big and reach his full potential.
“What I liked most about my years at San Miguel was the bond I built with everyone there,” he said. Kelvin’s strong relationships with teachers and classmates helped him stay focused on his studies. “There was a lot of gang violence and drug abuse in our area,” he said. “Having teachers and older classmates at San Miguel to look up to motivated me to get past that.”
Kelvin was particularly inspired by his religion teacher, Diana Aguilar. “Every time she came into the classroom, I felt her desire for me to learn and the joy she got out of it,” he said. “She wanted to see me become somebody in life.”
San Miguel’s faculty and staff believed in Kelvin’s potential and encouraged him to apply for a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship. Kelvin received a scholarship through the Foundation’s Young Scholars Program, which covers his tuition at St. John’s College High School.
Kelvin is now a senior, co-captain of the varsity soccer team and an active member of the Culinary Club, National Honor Society, Spanish Club and Multicultural Student Alliance. Kelvin also has discovered an unexpected interest-the French language. When Kelvin was asked to select an academic interest for his Jack Kent Cooke summer program, he chose French-and found himself on a plane to Paris. Last summer, he studied French and art history for four weeks at the L’ Academie de Paris.
Looking ahead, Kelvin plans to employ his language talents in the field of international relations and hopes to attend Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA, which offers a nationally-recognized major in Diplomacy and World Affairs.