Two students from Compton have just won a life-changing scholarship and are proving that no obstacle can get in the way of their dreams. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2015.
They heard it all their lives, the negativity, the "No you can’t" and the: No one cares." But now two Compton teens are proving they can beat back the odds and the stereotypes.
Dominguez High School seniors Amir Teixeira and Luisa Rosa Silva are two of more than 1,000 recipients nationwide of the Gates Millennium Scholarship. The award will help fund their college studies and postgraduate studies.
"When I realized how huge this was, I was like … whoa," Silva said.
She will be the first of her family to attend college, entering UC San Diego in the fall to study mechanical engineering. She says she wants to work for NASA, but also to give back to her community in Compton.
"Especially for Latina women," she said. "And I do want to thank Bill and Melinda Gates, I want to do something like them one day, I want to donate one billion dollars someday so students can get their education funded."
The scholarship program started in 1999 with a goal to promote academic excellence and to provide opportunities for outstanding minority students with significant financial need. It was initially funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill and Meldina Gates Foundation.
"If you put your mind to it, then anything is possible," Teixeira said. "I came straight out of Compton and I’m not a rapper or an athlete, I’m not the stereotypical person that they see from Compton."
He says he knows he’s breaking down the stereotypes for kids in Compton.
“"Especially since I’m black and people say only black people are good for this and that. I’m straight academics and letting people know that the teachers we have here are great, the staff we have here is great and that Compton is not just a terrible place. A lot of students want to thrive but they never get the chance."
Teixeira is set to start school at UCLA in the fall, studying physiological sciences with the hope of eventually becoming a brain surgeon. Also the first of his family to go to college, he says he understands the great opportunity he’s been given.
"I’m most definitely blessed," he said.
The students had to be nominated by one of their teachers. Teixeira was nominated by teacher G.C. Esiopu "because I saw the potential in them," she said.
"The(y) went from nothing to something," Esiopu said. "The only thing they need to continue is money."
Esiopu believes Teixeira’s success will ultimately help his community thrive as well.
"(Teixeira could go) from Compton to the best surgeon the United States of America has ever produced."
History teacher Amy Razo who wrote the recommendation for Silva, gives all the credit to the students.
"I think it’s more about the students, because they earned this," Razo said. "They did."
The news comes while some 54 teachers in Compton Unified are set to lose their jobs at the end of this school year — Razo is one of them. Still, the district’s position on such incredible honors for two of its students points to the very teachers who have taught them all this time.
"What it means is the teachers are teaching, students are learning and these schools are moving in the right direction," said Compton School Board President Micah Ali.
"This district has dedicated teachers and staff who work hard to help students find their potential," District Superintendent Darin Brawley said in a written statement.
Silva and Teixeira are Dominguez High’s third and fourth Gates Scholarship winners in three years. Previous recipients include 2013 recipient Joana Granados and 2014 winner Deisy Celis. In 2009, the school’s valedictorian Miryam Padilla was named a Gates Scholar and in 2010, Ernesto Villasenor from Compton High was also honored.
Eligible students each year must be African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian-American/Pacific Islander or Hispanic American; have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on an unweighted 4.0 scale or earned a GED and have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities.
