Oscar Campos is a personable, charming individual who you would not realize had a precarious past. As a young man growing up in Los Angeles, Oscar said he was “living the gang life since this is how I was raised by family members and peers from my community.” Oscar continued to go to his local high school however remembers not being mentally there. “I was really not in school even though I was physically there because I was not in my classes. I was hanging out around the school.” Oscar realized that in order to have a brighter future he needed to make a change, and he enrolled at Long Beach Job Corps and SIATech.
Oscar thrived in the new caring environment he experienced at SIATech. He also was motivated by the positivity and feedback from his teachers. “The best thing about SIATech was that there were teachers who really cared about my success and giving me positive comments that I would be able to get my high school diploma.”
Another thing that helped Oscar was a mentor who helped him grow and gave him a sense of belonging. “I was able to interact with the principal, Mr. Staggs, which is something I never did at my previous high school. On top of that, he made me feel a part of SIATech by interacting with me.”
Many SIATech students comment that they really enjoy the small classes and helpful teachers that are at SIATech. Oscar agrees: “The biggest difference between my previous schools and SIATech, is that SIATech has small classes and more than three teachers who are there to help with any academic classes. Also, SIATech encourage me to keep up the work with positive reinforcement when I felt lazy.”
Beyond the academic part of his experience at SIATech, Oscar appreciated how the teachers helped him establish his sense of purpose and welcomed him to class each day.
“The teachers at SIATech are the best because they had all the knowledge I needed to succeed with my academic classes. In addition, they made me feel like a human being and when I felt like this I was able to do better in my academic classes. Every day that I step into my class I was always welcome and I felt that I belong to a group of people who care to see me succeed.”
After putting in the time and effort to finish all the credits he needed to graduate, Oscar revelled in his graduation ceremony. Plus, sharing it with his family was very heart-warming and a reminder that it is possible to overcome obstacles in our lives. “My graduation experience was wonderful because my mother and my siblings were able to see me get my high school diploma and seeing that I was changing since they have seen me in my bad days. The most important thing that I remember about my graduation is that I show to my mother and my siblings that just because we grew up in a low-income community and having barriers in our life, does not mean we cannot overcome these barriers.”
Oscar currently works at the SIATech Academy South schools based in Los Angeles (Boyle Heights, Culver City, and Pico-Union). As the Community Relations Specialist, Oscar helps recruit students to encourage others like him to return to school and earn their high school diploma at SIATech. Oscar also builds partnerships within the community in order to provide wraparound services such as work opportunities, childcare, and college resources for our current students at SIATech.
Oscar foresees a long future in education and serving at-promise students. He would like to first earn his single subject credential in mathematics and become a teacher for SIATech. “My long-term plans for the future are to become a principal for SIATech. Hopefully we can bring SIATech in my neighborhood where there is a need since there are still many youth who were just like me in today's time.”