Chancellor Update

BY PETER VILLAFANE

BY KATYA CASTILLO

Months before graduating high school, Kyle Becerra was ready to give up on education.

But after completing two years worth of high school in one month at a continuation school, his reality changed.

“College seemed impossible for me to reach,” Kyle Becerra said in a phone interview. “Then I ended up finishing all that work within one month and I realized that I’m capable of succeeding academically. I felt like wow, if I could complete two years of work in one month, something that I thought was impossible, there’s nothing I can’t do.”

Now, at 20 years old, he is one of 50 recipients of the highly selective Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship and is waiting for acceptances to prestigious private universities.

The scholarship awards up to $40,000 each year for up to three years at a four-year university.

“Coming from a family who’s experienced poverty our entire lives, it takes so much pressure off,” Kyle Becerra said. “I won’t be in debt. My family doesn’t have to pay for something they can’t afford. It’s the ability to study without having to worry about it. “

Kyle Becerra started classes at Pierce in the fall of 2017 with no direction, but had a goal to maintain a 4.0 GPA -- which he has. Then, he wanted to push himself academically and eventually transfer to a highly selective private school, so he joined the Honors Program to challenge himself and prepare for higher education.

Counselor Shelley Tadiki helped him on his transfer journey for the three years he attended Pierce.

“Working with Kyle is great,” Tadiki said in a phone interview.

“He’s very motivated and has really big ideas for what he wants to do, and that was really inspiring for me to be working with students who have really put a lot of thought into what they see for themselves in the future.”

Kyle Becerra said the rigor of the Honors Program gave him the tools he needed to set himself apart from other scholarship applicants.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Tadiki said. “It takes a lot of hard work, maintaining relationships with faculty members and taking advantage of and researching opportunities beyond Pierce. He took a lot of initiative and spent a lot of