Javier Gonzalez

Student

“I think the biggest part of what we did at Virginia Avenue Park was teaching people how to take what we gave them and then go on to help themselves.”

“I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t much of a schoolboy in high school. So when I got to SMC, it was kind of intimidating,” says Javier Gonzalez. “I mean, it’s a big school with a lot of different kinds of teachers, and you’ve got to be able to handle independence. But I think SMC has gotten a lot better in reaching out and bridging the gap—with counselors and good programs—for students like me. Or maybe,” he adds, laughing, “I’ve gotten better.”

As an SMC Intern at Virginia Avenue Park this past summer, Javier got to build some of his own “bridges” for people looking for a better life and a more solid sense of belonging to their community. “I worked in the Community Center trying to place people in jobs. We developed hiring contacts and then helped people with their resumes,” he says. “I was working specifically with younger people—mostly black and Latino kids—to get them temporary work. But another project I had,” adds Javier, “was to get people who lived on the same block in the neighborhood, but never talked, to build a dialog.”

Javier plans to transfer to UCLA to become a teacher in Chicano Studies. He reports that his summer internship has given him a lot of insight into community realities and his own potential to help others find their own way. “I really like the nuances of community service,” he says. “This summer I learned about writing official letters and calling up people professionally and creating ‘outreach’ programs. And it was good to be recognized with a little money for my internship. But doing it for money is the wrong idea. The real reward you get comes over the rest of your life.”

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