From Survival to Success: Luis’s Story

As a child growing up in El Salvador, Luis faced many difficult challenges including poverty and gang violence. From the age of five or six, he worked in the fields all morning to help his family survive. He attended school in the afternoons exhausted, and he would wait until night to do his homework because he wanted to help his mother to sell the pupusas she made. This small additional income enabled her to buy the school books he needed and pay for the bus fare to school.

Discovering Courage

Luis was forced to flee his home country when he was 16 because of death threats from gangs. His experience making the long and dangerous journey to the United States alone taught him a lot about courage. He walked several days and nights in the desert with a wound on his leg caused by poor medical treatment after he broke it, eating very little food and drinking water that was left out for livestock.

Deciding to leave his family also required courage. “I knew that it might be the last time I would see them, because I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the U.S. or if one of them would die because of gangs or disease,” Luis says.

Getting Support

When Luis arrived in the United States, he was imprisoned at the border and spent over two months in an immigration detention center. Then he was accepted into a foster program through Catholic Community Services in Tacoma. His case manager, Sister Susan, met him at Sea-Tac Airport.

“When I met her, I felt that I was not alone because she cared about me,” he says. “Without knowing a lot about me, she took me to eat to a Salvadoran restaurant and made me feel very welcome in Washington.”

Shortly after his arrival in Washington, Luis learned he had a serious bone infection caused by his leg surgery in El Salvador. “I knew that Sister Susan was like an angel, because she was working extra hard so I could have surgery on my leg as soon as possible,” he says.

The injury required months of antibiotics and many surgeries, and Luis feared the doctor may have to amputate his leg because of the damage. It was very difficult for him to be undergoing serious medical treatments without fully understanding what was going on. Because only a few nurses and doctors spoke Spanish, most of his treatments were explained through interpreters.

Through it all, Sister Susan was always there for him along with other staff from Catholic Community Services. “I feel blessed to have received great medical care which enabled me to fully recover,” Luis says. “My mother was happy that my leg was finally going to heal and that Sister Susan was taking care of me.”

Luis attributes his recovery to his strong faith in God and the support of medical and foster program staff. He also attributes it to his perseverance, which kept him going and helped him realize that he could accomplish big things.

Embracing Challenges

After recovering, Luis tried out for his high school swim team. Because of the language barrier, learning to swim was not easy: His coach didn’t speak Spanish, and he couldn’t speak much English.

But Luis was courageous and saw opportunities when things got difficult. “I wanted to stop swimming because I never understood [my coach], but I didn’t because my mother taught me to be strong even when something is very hard,” he says. “I ended up swimming on the varsity team for two years, and I still swim for health and enjoyment.”

Learning English was one of Luis’s greatest academic challenges. When he started at Lincoln High School, he knew very little English and had a hard time understanding his teachers. He worked hard to finish his homework and pass his tests, but he couldn’t get help from his advisor who only spoke English. Only one teacher knew Spanish and helped him when she could.

“I felt scared when I was not passing my classes, so I started to find people to help me understand the material,” Luis says. “I met with a tutor twice a week and gave all of me every day because I knew I had the potential to pass, and because Sister Susan was supporting me which inspired me to keep trying.”

Succeeding in College

Luis graduated from Lincoln High School in 2016. He applied to college because Sister Susan emphasized how getting a college education would help him get a better job and help his family one day. “I also didn’t want to have the same life as my family who still lives in poverty,” he says.

With Sister’s help, he also applied for and received College Success Foundation’s Governors’ Scholarship for Foster Youth and the Leadership 1000 Scholarship. “Paying for college can be difficult, but I didn’t have to worry because CSF awarded me these two scholarships that changed my life,” he says. “I was able to focus on school only because I had enough financial support.”

Although Luis felt happy to be the first in his family to attend college, it wasn’t easy because he didn’t have any idea of what college was like.

“Even with support, transferring from high school to college can be tough because classes are at a higher level and teachers expect more from their students,” he says. “One of the biggest challenges was doing my first research paper. I felt lost because I had no idea how to write a paper in my own words that had more than eight articles integrated in it.”

Luis found help and support by forming good relationships with teachers, counselors and other mentors. He connected with other students by joining clubs and volunteering at college events.

“CSF reminded me to fill out my FAFSA and checked on me to see if I needed extra support. They helped me with my academic plan, gave me advice on how to explore majors and sent me information about internships,” he says. “I am very thankful for CSF because I received huge support from them which helped me survive my two years of college.”

Luis learned that in order to succeed in college, he had to make smart decisions and work hard to achieve his goals. “In high school, teachers look for you or your parents if you are not turning in your work or attending class. But in college you have the responsibility to keep your grades up, attend classes and push yourself,” he says. “There are many times when you have to choose between a movie with your friends or doing your homework. It all depends on you, and if you want to succeed, you have to think about the long-term benefits that education will have on your life rather than the short-term benefits of a party or movie.”

Looking Toward His Future

Luis’s determination helped him overcome leaving his family and life in El Salvador, shape his academic future, and learn a second language. He received his associate’s degree from Skagit Valley College in August 2018 and plans to attend Seattle University, where he received a full scholarship, to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Social Work and help his community in the same way that others helped him.

“I think we are all the same, and just because we were born in a poor family doesn’t mean that we should be poor,” he says. “I also believe that education is the key to success. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible if you put in the effort.”