2013-2014 Cohort
Ally Pacheco
My name is Alejandra Pacheco and I am a freshman at Santa Clara University studying bioengineering. Since a young age, I have been very driven to be the first in my family to attend college. Now that I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend such a wonderful school, I want to help those with similar disadvantages have the chance as well to go to college. Through Elevate Tutoring, I aspire to help middle school and high school students become stronger in math/science, and I will support the students however I can. I look forward to the opportunities and memories that will be made from working at Elevate Tutoring.
Alondra Varela
Ciao, my name is Alondra Varela and I am currently attending San Jose State University. I love a great adventure and if I could, I would travel the whole world. I am a global citizen and believe my responsibility is to give back to the community I am in. I am overjoyed to be a part of Elevate because I will get to help underrepresented students just like me. Also, I can honestly say that without the extra help I sought through tutoring, I wouldn’t be were I am today. My tutors, teachers, parents, and family were all mentors to me and I would like to lead on that legacy by being a great influence in someone else’s life. Everyone has a different motivation and goal in life, one of my goals is to bring my parents a college diploma. Thanks to Elevate’s financial aid, I am one step closer to my goal.
Ashwinder Singh
My name is Ashwinder Singh and I am currently attending San Jose State University. I am working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering and aim towards a Master’s Degree as well. My goal is to be a positive influence on students in many ways. Subjects like math and science often discourage students from academics as a whole. I understand their difficulties because as a first generation student I faced similar problems throughout the course of my school. I wish to help students overcome these struggles and not let them get in the way of proceeding towards college. As an independent college student, I hope to be a good role model for them. Elevate Tutoring has affected my life dramatically, in many positive aspects. First and foremost, the scholarship money provided to me is helping me complete my education. I pay for my own living, work full time, am a full time college student, and affording a college education is extremely difficult because of its expense. Elevate Tutoring has helped resolve this problem. I am honored to be a part of an organization that is funding the education of struggling college students like myself and helping students in financial need of tutoring.
Helen Mejia
Hello, my name is Helen Mejia, and I am from Novato, California. I am a freshman at San Jose State University and I am currently undeclared but thinking about pursuing a career in animation or computer graphics. I love to draw, read, play video games, and watch soccer and baseball in my free time. I am very excited to be part of the Elevate Tutors because I feel it is a way of giving back to my community for all the help that I have received so far. Not only will Elevate help me to achieve my academic goals, it will also provide the means to help others as well and I think that is very important. I am looking forward to the rest of the year in the program!
Mauricio Alvarado
Hello, my name is Mauricio Alvarado and I am a freshman at San Jose State University majoring in Electrical Engineering. I come from a low-income family. Both of my parents are hard-workers and the amount of money that they can contribute to my education is very limited. Elevate Tutoring will provide me with the relief that I can continue funding my education through a scholarship. I will also help tutor other students who are in need. I have always wanted to be a tutor, but I never had the chance. My main motivation is to help low-income students get to college like I was once helped to get here. I believe that anyone is capable of being successful if they try hard enough to do it. I am very excited to be part of the tutoring team and I will give the best of my abilities to help other students accomplish their goals.
Peter Soto
Hi, my name is Peter Soto and I am currently a first year student at San Jose State University pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. I enjoy studying math and I plan on pursuing my Master’s or Ph.D. at Purdue University. My goal is to one day work for a prestigious Aerospace company. I am a very dedicated individual, I believe that in order to succeed one must set realistic goals for themselves and try their best to achieve them. As a tutor for Elevate Tutoring, I plan to not only help students who are struggling academically, but also help them find the best ways that they can learn. I truly believe that each individual has a certain way that they learn best, and together we can work to find an individual’s best mode of learning. I am looking forward to beginning my role as a tutor helping students progress in their studies.
Zuly Flores
Hello everyone! My name is Zuly Flores and I am from San Rafael, CA. I am currently a freshman at San Jose State University, planning to major in Nursing. I know that being an underprivileged student can be tough especially if your parents cannot afford to pay tutors to help you. For this reason, I am very happy that Elevate Tutoring is able to provide high school students with tutors who can help them do better in school. When I was in high school, I was blessed with tutors and programs that helped me stay on track and earn good grades. Thanks to the Elevate Tutoring program, I will be able to give back to my community and help students improve in math so they can earn good grades and go to college. My motivation to stay in college and graduate are my mom and sisters because they have been by my side throughout these years and I want to show them that anything they dream of is achievable.