Admission season: Senior Class prez awaits word from Stanford, Harvard
Manteca High senior Salvador Suarez (right) is pictured with his counselor Wayne Cheung outside of the counseling office on the campus of Manteca High School.
By RONNIE FUENTES
The Tower
Seniors across the country run to the mailbox or constantly refresh their in-box, eager to open an envelope or email with their dream school’s logo across the masthead.
It’s College Acceptance season, and for one Manteca High dynamo, it’s been bountiful.
Salvador Suarez is a senior who has already been recognized by many universities. He’s been accepted to: San Francisco State University, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and UCLA.
However, he’s been wait-listed by three of the country’s most prestigious universities — Stanford, Harvard and NYU — adding a bit of suspense to this acceptance season.
Being accepted to many universities proves Suarez’s character and his excellence as a person and student overall.
Over the last four years, Suarez has received many awards and summited several personal mountaintops. He is a four-year class president; two-year National Honor Society president; four-year National Honor Society Member; a bronze medalist in literature for Academic Decathlon; HOBY Ambassador; Ed100 Ambassador; NYU College Access Leadership Institute ambassador; former swim team captain; intern at the Manteca Chamber of Commerce; and donator for the Children’s Home of Stockton, which gives at-risk youth a home to succeed academically and socially.
His story of success, however, started at a much earlier age … long before he arrived on Manteca Unified’s oldest campus.
Suarez was a 7-year-old immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, who challenged language barriers by becoming fluent in English in about a year.
Manteca High senior Salvador Suarez is pictured with English teacher Sarah Haskett. Suarez is awaiting word on his admission to Stanford, Harvard and NYU.
At 10, he explored his potential and fell in love with the idea of building a future. In his early teenage years, he developed depression and anxiety, but remained resilient. He is now advocating for queer visibility and immigrant rights, and is looking to Stanford and Harvard to help disenfranchised communities.
“When I arrived to this country as a 7-year-old immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, I believed I would fall into the statistic of children who are intimidated into failing academically and socially due to language barriers. I challenged this by becoming fluent in English in almost under a year, and proved to myself I could chase any dream I had.”
First-year Manteca High counselor Wayne Cheung recognized Suarez’s special qualities early on. Cheung was comforted Suarez’s attitude, 1,000-watt smile, and warm welcome.
“Since this is my first year here, I was a bit nervous, especially in the high school setting,” Cheung said. “But the cool thing about meeting Sal was that he came into my office with a big smile, with an awesome tone and he was like ‘Hey, I’m Salvador, I believe that you’re my counselor’ and right then and there, I just felt like this kid made me comfortable at Manteca High. It’s pretty wild for a student to do that to an adult and I think that’s the attitude that Sal has.”
With a variety of acceptance letters, Suarez will choose a place where his views are recognized and honored.
In the fall term, Suarez plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in business economics followed by a master's degree in business administration. He also hopes to one day work with the group management team at LVMH, which is behind-the-scenes for Fashion Week.
Where are they going?
Seniors who have been admitted to a two- or four-year university, or the military have been encouraged to celebrate their next step by placing their name on a Celebration Wall in the counseling center. Here’s a look at the current list of names:
UC
Ronnie Fuentes – UC Davis
Stephanie Baires – UC Davis
CSU
Guadalupe Enriquez – Stanislaus State
Connor DePrater – USC Monterey Bay
Emily Cobain – Stanislaus State
Nathan Contreras – San Bernardino
Lydia DeDios – Stanislaus State
Kira Reyes – S.F. State
Taylin Hillman – Stanislaus State
John Paul Campos – Stanislaus State
Gabriella Jackson – Stanislaus State
Mariah Alcazar Aldaco – San Jose State
Out of State/Private
Katie Kim – University of Pennsylvania
Blake Nichelson – Florida State University
April Fernandez – Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Ava Garay – University of Silicon Valley
Maleah Hokett – Paul Mitchell Cosmetology
Nori Farwal – Southern New Hampshire University
Delta College
Ty Flores
Ricardo Villalvazo
Darius Morris Roberson
Monica Aguilar
Elon James
Bernardo Ceja
Julian Espinoza
Evelyn Moreno
Nevaeh Hernandez
Diego Urquieta
Aneglica Espinoza
Andres Garcia
Stephanie Baires
Ronnie Fuentes
Kimberly Ordaz
Carsyn VanZant
Jacob Paul
Bryant Dominguez
Ryan Herrick
Lianna Ramirez
Jhezzarhie Breganza
Timothy Davis
Daniela Aranda Flores
Isaac Cisneros
Emily Cargil
Mariah Alcazar Aldaco
Adriana Gutierrez
Guadalupe Mercado Guevara
Alan Verdin
John Urias
Kathia Grijalua
Jonathan Tevez
Brandon Holland
Chase Gandy
Israel Quintero
Julian Espinoza
Nicholas Martinez
Arlhet Rodriguez
Georgia Hutchison
Andrea Valencia-Pineda
Sacramento City College
Fatima Victoria – Sacramento City College
Military
Lean Gopez – Marines
Cody Demieville – Army
Modesto Junior College
Alma Cruz
Alayna Bottoms
Ramon Arechiga
Stephanie Aguilar
Kaden Thiel
Ethan Carney
Mason Gibson
Luis Muniz-Frausto
Zach Johnson
Jenna Poncini
Alysa Melendez
Isaiah Evans
Lovneet Banga
Alyson Tse
Marly Goodwin
John Louie Palanqui
David Chea
Baily Thompson
Allison Berg
Addisyn Allen
Sanjana Sagar
Elias Cruz
Carissa Kemp
Aldo Garcia
Steven Maciel
Adriana Naranjo
Ayden Marshall
Jayden Gonzalez
Kaitlen Petra
Joshua Vicente Martinez
Grayson Roman
Amy Panigua
Arbaj Sidhu
David Talavera
Nishaah Heer
Jillian Santos
Aiden Lang
Gilbert Gabriel Troche
Victor Flores
Jason Foreman
Isaiah Tariku
Angel Rosario