As our Nation celebrates Memorial Day and honors all those who have served, are serving and are preparing to serve, we are proud to introduce our current 2020 Graduate Luciano.
Luciano Borjas – Segerstrom High School
- Project Youth OCBF Higher Education Mentoring Program Class of 2020
- Project Youth OCBF Project SELF 2019 Intern
- Accepted to United States Military Academy in West Point, New York
Each year through Project Youth OCBF’s Higher Education Mentoring Program we proudly say farewell to our program graduates as they depart to their colleges of choice. This year is no different even during the current crisis of COVID-19. We are pleased to have our very first Higher Education Mentoring Program Graduate attend the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York where he will pursue an educational and career path of service to our country in the Armed Forces.
Luciano applied to West Point’s 2019 summer pre-boot camp and was accepted to their summer training program in New York. Convinced this was his path, he obtained the necessary congressional nomination from Lou Correa’s office to apply to the academy and was thrilled when he received his acceptance letter. His parents are equally excited and proud that their son will attend this prestigious college.
Luciano hopes to graduate from West Point in four years with a degree in engineering. He is passionate about learning and excited to apply his favorite subject, mathematics! He plans to study kinematics, the branch of mechanics concerned with motion and used to calculate the exact spot a mortar will land! He plans to fulfill his 5-year commitment to the United States Army in the Field Artillery Branch. “I am excited about what the future has in store for me as I’ll be surrounded by new people from all over the country that have similar mindsets and goals,” said Luciano.
Luciano is thankful for his Project Youth OCBF’s Higher Education Mentoring Program and Project SELF experiences. He stated, “Being part of the Higher Education Mentoring Program greatly helped me focus on my goals and provided me with important resources to accomplish them. The workshops helped me hone certain skills that I’ll be able to take forward for the rest of my life. The mentors I had gave me the best advice and allowed me to share how I felt through the whole process of applying to colleges and looking at my options. It provided me the opportunity of being part of Project SELF, which was an internship at a law firm that allowed me to gain connections and life experiences in the real world. This internship allowed me to meet attorneys who wrote me letters of recommendations that made it possible for me to obtain a nomination to the United States Military Academy from Congressman Lou Correa.”
Luciano’s path is even more impressive because of the challenges he experienced growing up. He is one of four children from a Santa Ana family which, like many families, struggled to make ends meet. Neither mom nor dad had the opportunity to attend college and Luciano’s father had the additional challenge of overcoming drug addiction. Currently, Luciano’s older sister is attending Santa Ana College and together they hope to be the first in their family to receive college educations. Through good teachers and friends and opportunities like Project Youth OCBF’s educational and career mentoring programs Luciano has found his way to a promising future.
Project Youth OCBF will be supporting Luciano’s pursuit of higher education by awarding him with the Mark & Cathy Erickson Scholarship of $1,000 (Mark is a former Army officer and proud to support Luciano’s military path), a $500 Amazon gift card and a backpack from the Project Youth Associate Board filled with college supplies.
Luciano Borjas joins the following Higher Education Mentoring Program Graduates who have pursued paths in the military: Rene Martinez – Class of 2018 Marine Corps, Lizbeth Moreno Class of 2016 Air Force, Michael Nava and
Thomas Guzman – Class of 2015 Army and Elvira Valdivia – Class of 2002 (Career Army currently stationed in South Korea); all serving their country proudly!