IYT CC Graduate Spotlight

Oscar Chaves Perez

Oscar Chaves Perez, American River College Graduate '22

This fall, Oscar will be transferring from American River College (ARC) to Cal Poly Humboldt. Oscar has shown incredible dedication, passion, and resilience in his pursuit to become a first-generation college graduate, we are honored to be able to walk alongside him and share his story.

My parents never really put an emphasis on college growing up, but they didn’t necessarily downplay it either. As a potential first generation student, college was a gray area for me and I had no idea how to approach it. I joined IYT after having a conversation with my first mentor and IYT alumni Arturo. The mission statement of IYT is very powerful, through attending brotherhood meetings and having a rotation of content, I was further convinced of college being an avenue to creating a new generation of educated scholars and good people.

"Being given a platform for huge opportunities and priceless exposure to influential people all reassured me on the path I chose. Through IYT Community College I was able to better recognize my position as a first generation student and how crucial it is to help change the narrative of young men of color in education. Having a support group and an IYT mentor to turn to for aid or advice is a benefit I am forever thankful for. Their influence in such a turbulent time has been really impactful and meaningful. The statistics of Hispanics that transfer within two years of community college let alone graduate in general is shocking and I hope to increase that small percentage for myself, my family, and my community

I plan on transferring to Cal Poly Humboldt this fall to get my bachelors for Sociology, a topic of great interest both professional and personal. I look forward to contributing everything I can at this new level that will be a different environment from what I’ve experienced in community college. Cal Poly Humboldt will be a genuine challenge for me to utilize my skills and adapt to new expectations. This difficulty is something I anticipate and cannot wait to see what I can do. I am also very interested in geography so I hope to make life lasting memories being up north in the heart of old growth forests and the pinnacle of northwestern nature. The life changes of transferring and the independence is something I cannot predict, but my determination to get my diploma is paramount to my excitement of this new chapter in my life and the changes it entails.