 |
| Eddie Vasquez |
Cuyamaca College employee Eddie Vasquez first read Nobel
laureate and novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s writings at age 14.
Now 25, the student services specialist will depart in
July for a one-year, all-expenses paid stay to work and study as a Fulbright
Scholar in Colombia, the birthplace of the author whose seminal work, “100
Years of Solitude,” is considered a classic piece of modern literature.
“It forever changed my life,” Vasquez said about his
introduction to the novelist’s writings in an honors Spanish class. It was, he
said, the first time he could relate to a book’s Latino characters.
Vasquez’s
interest in Colombia stemmed from his fascination with the novelist, as well as
the figurative paintings and sculptures of Medellin-born artist Fernando
Botero.
“These
two artists have been instrumental in my appreciation of art and life itself
and I wanted to gain a deeper context of their cultural upbringing while being
an ambassador to the U.S. and California,” said Vasquez, a Mexican-American who
is fluent in English and Spanish and conversational in French and Italian.
On April
21 – just four days after Garcia Marquez’s death in Mexico City – Vasquez
learned he has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright grant to be an
English teaching assistant in Bucaramanga, a city of about half-million people
in the Colombian Andes. In addition to his work and study, Vasquez plans to
pursue his passion for the performing arts through directing community theater
as a participant in the Fulbright Program, the flagship international
educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.
With
plans to return to Cuyamaca College with a master’s degree that he aspires to
acquire in educational administration during his time in Colombia, Vasquez said
his Fulbright experience will provide a deeper understanding of Title V,
the federal education code relating to expanding educational opportunities for
Hispanic students by assisting Hispanic-Serving Institutions such as Cuyamaca
and Grossmont colleges.
As the
student services specialist at Cuyamaca’s Extended Opportunity Programs and
Services Office, as well as adviser for the LGBTA and EOPS clubs, Vasquez said
he hopes that upon his return, the students he engages with through his work
are inspired to expand their educational horizons.
‘My
international experience will prompt my current students to begin thinking of
their study abroad possibilities once they transfer and will allow me to be an
even better club advisor for both of my student clubs,” he said.
College
President Mark J. Zacovic said Vasquez’s contributions to the campus have been
“tremendous” and
he looks forward to his return from Colombia as an even better mentor to
students and others. Vasquez also plays a key role as the Cuyamaca vice president
in the Classified Senate, an organization that represents the needs, concerns
and viewpoints of the classified, or non-instructional, staff.
“Eddie
has been at the college for only a little over a year and yet his presence is
very evident from all the good things he has done,” Zacovic said. “I am very
proud of his accomplishments and I know the students he works with on a regular
basis regard him as a role model – someone who has overcome similar challenges
to achieve much in his educational and professional endeavors.”
A disadvantaged childhood
Born in
Anaheim, California, Vasquez was raised in a single-parent household in the
South San Diego community of Nestor, along with four siblings.
“We were
raised by humble means, receiving food stamps and welfare, in a low-cost
apartment complex where it was not uncommon to hear gunshots or see drug and
alcohol abuse,” Vasquez said. “The
odds were against me. The Nestor area hosts much gang-related violence. I had
to choose whether I wanted to live the street life or the life an academic. I
chose the latter.”
The first
male in his family with a university degree, Vasquez credits his older sister
for setting an example, and his mother, who taught her children from a very
young age the value of an education.
“My
sister has received her B.S. in business from Cal State San Marcos and my
younger brother has received an automotive certificate from Southwestern
College,” he said. “My mother taught me the value of education and I clung on
to it as if my life depended on it because my life did depend on it.”
After
graduating from Montgomery High School, Vasquez received scholarships and
financial aid to attend San Diego State University. Vasquez applied for the
Fulbright grant last September under the auspices of SDSU, where he received
his bachelor’s in comparative literature. The application, which took him about
three months to complete, was followed by two interviews before the local
Fulbright committee at SDSU and a second before the one from Colombia.
The
Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600
U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting
scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and
professionals.
Approximately
310,000 Fulbrighters have participated in the program since its inception in
1946.
Vasquez
said he is “extremely happy and proud” about his Fulbright acceptance, adding
that he is grateful for the support he has received from his family and the
college district for its encouragement to classified employees to reach their
educational and professional aspirations.
Vasquez
recites a quote from Garcia Marquez to sum up his own sentiments about his
journey ahead.
“I
discovered to my joy, that it is life, not death that has no limits.”
