Gilroy’s loss will be Berkeley’s gain, as all three of the city’s valedictorians intend to attend Cal in the fall.
“I was given a Cal sweater by my brother in the 7th grade when I didn’t know anything about the college,” said Andy Garcia, this year’s valedictorian at Gilroy High School. “But ever since I learned more about it, it has been my goal to go there.”
Garcia will be in good company at the UC-Berkeley campus, joining Kaitlyn Lombardo and Simernjit Sadhra, valedictorians at Christopher High School and Gilroy Early College Academy (GECA), respectively.
While this part of their journey stops at Cal, Gilroy’s top three students each got there in their own way.
“There are so many opportunities if you seek them out,” said Lombardo, who will be the third woman in her family to attend Cal—both her mother and grandmother (along with her maternal grandfather) graduated from the university.
Over the last four years, community service has become a passion for Lombardo.
A result, she said, of the school district’s 80-hour community service graduation requirement.
Lombardo was the president of her school’s Rotary-affiliated Interact club and spoke with pride about expanding the school’s holiday food drive and starting a math and English tutoring program for students in grades 1 through 5 at Gilroy Prep.
Lombardo intends to study political science at Cal.
At Gilroy High School, Garcia also participated in Interact and touted his experience at Rotary Youth Leadership Awards as a freshman.
“It was a very inspiring experience,” he said, one which put him in contact with other high-achieving students. It was a support network that would last throughout his time at Gilroy High.
“We all became a group of friends,” Garcia said of his best friends, all top students. “We were all very clear with what we wanted to achieve at school and we went through the motions together.”
Sadhra also credits the supportive atmosphere at GECA for his success.
“It is very tough here,” said Sadhra of the magnet school where students take classes at Gavilan College, where the school is based, along with their high school curriculum.
In addition to his high school diploma, Sadhra will leave with an Associate’s degree in natural sciences, giving him a jump on college credits when he starts school in the fall. He intends to double-major in biology and economics and credits his AP teacher Mr. Dawson at GECA for sparking his interest in macroeconomics.
“A lot of people can just give up, but we were each other’s rock,” he said of his fellow students at GECA. There were just 41 students in his senior class. All of whom, according to the school, will be continuing their higher education.
Both Garcia and Sadhra will be first-generation college students in their families.
“It is really great to see my parents proud of me,” said Sadhra, whose parents, Bahader and Inderjit own and operate a liquor store in Hollister. “I’m fulfilling my own dreams, but on my way, fulfilling theirs as well.”
He has an older brother, Satwinder and older sister, Sarnjit who attends San Francisco State, studying accounting and finance.
“My Number One thing is to see a smile on my dad’s face,” said Sadhra.
When Garcia talks about his parents, his voice catches.
“My parents are very happy,” said Garcia, as he shows a text he received from his mom, Lucy, a local caregiver, congratulating him on being made valedictorian.
For the first time this year, the top five students as ranked by GPA of each school had to apply to be valedictorian, submitting a resume-like application with letters of reference and a personal statement. They also had to give their proposed graduation speech in front of a panel of faculty members.
“I hope I have been able to show them through all the work I’ve done these past four years, how much they have given me,” said Garcia. “How much they have given me to make me who I am.”
