Feb 5, 2009 9:36 pm US/Pacific
Vincent Alvarez: The Gentle Giant
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
Vincent Alvarez is an imposing guy. When I met him, words bumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them- something to the effect of, "wow, you're so big!" Big as in powerful, a football player, that kind of big. Immediately, I felt clumsy and embarrassed. Then, before I knew it, he somehow set me at ease. It was his smile, I think, and his easy going manner. Vincent makes people feel comfortable.
"I always call him my big teddy bear", says his counselor at San Rafael High, Karena Posedel, who's known him since he was in 6th grade. "He's just a gentle giant. He's one of the kindest human beings I've ever met." Posedel says she has watched him grow up from a shy kid to a wonderful young man, with strong morals and great ethics.
At San Rafael High, he's been voted most likely to make you laugh. He has a way of diffusing things, according to his teachers. Another school counselor, Joanne Dufficy collects their comments in her notes, in his file. "Happy, popular, helpful and kind", she reads to me, "Good manners, easygoing, good spirit, who cooperates with everyone, every time he has a chance". His teachers all love him.
Vincent is the youngest of five children. His mother worked hard to raise the children, and it was a struggle to keep up with the bills. There was a lot of instability, and at one point, they were homeless. But even then, Vincent worked hard on his schoolwork.
"I just knew that I could be successful when I grew up and give my mother the life she came searching for In this country", he wrote in his personal statement. "My mom, being a strong Mexican woman, passed the will to succeed to her baby: me."
"When you talk with him you can feel the determination. He is going to go to college," says Joanne Dufficy. "He says he knows he's going to make it- you can hear the confidence in him." Even when his home life was unstable, he stayed on track. "To continue to stay that focused through all of that", she says, "is remarkable. He's seen what happens if you're not determined."
In fact, in the 2006- 2007 school year, the California Department of Education reports 26.7% of all Latino high school students dropped out- a fact that vexes the education system. Latinos make up a significant percentage of the student population at San Rafael High, many from the canal district. In the hallways and the library, the kids' art projects about the Day of the Dead are displayed. It is a side of Marin County we don't hear about much.
Vincent has a 3.5 GPA, but he does more than just study. He and another student started something called the "In a Box" program. They get donations to put together boxes of school supplies, toiletries, clothes, and toys for families of abused women living in shelters.
"He is somebody who is always positive, always working hard", says Karena Posedel. "He's somebody who is always encouraging other students- whether it's someone on his football team, or his pre-calculus class, or a staff member who needs some assistance."
This fall, he becomes the first in his family to go to college.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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