Reaching Out

Reaching Out (The Circuit book 3) by Francisco Jiménez

The third book in this autobiographical series covers the undergraduate experiences at Santa Clara. The whole family drove up to drop him off at school, though father was feeling reluctant. His younger brother took over his jobs to help support the family. Additional challenges happened back home that would test his resolve. Their father moved back to Mexico. He was suffering and felt bad that he could not support the family. The family house also burned down. His family did not tell him about either of these until he came home. They didn't want to negatively impact his schooling.

At school, he had a football-playing roommate from Woodland, California. They bonded with their hard-working bootstrap background, though they had differences. Francisco was not into school spirit and sports. He preferred to focus on academics. He struggled initially with English and Spanish and needed to work hard at school. He also needed to find a way to support himself and his family. He had a great deal of help from teachers and priests at school. They saw some of his struggles and helped counsel and encourage him. They also found opportunities for him to work and better support himself as well as thrive in service-minded extra-curricular activities. Toward the end of his time, they nominated him for a graduate fellowship and helped him through the process, even getting him a suit to make it through the interview. We may have lost a lot as religious schools are dropping much of their religious character and requirements. There is value in the higher purpose and service. It seems that he may have benefited significantly by ending up at a small Jesuit institution instead of a large public school.