Why elite students are choosing CSUSB - CSUSB Magazine ...

of the scholarship, he andhis parents took a drive southon I-15.“ I l oved t h e c a m p u s. Ithought it was beautiful,” hesays. “The only doubt I hadwas that I’d always expectedto go far away from home. Butthen, once I really consideredit, I thought, ‘I’ll be an houraway from home. I’ll still beaway, but I’ll still be home.’” Betweenthe ideal location andthe monumental influencehis parents had in encouragingschooling, the PAES offerproved irresistible. He graduatedfrom CSUSB in June withhis bachelor’s in English literature— the first in his family toearn a four-year degree. Nowhe’s working with Teach forAmerica, a national programaimed at taking the country’smost promising recent graduatesand having them teachin the communities that needit most.The chance to go to someof the most elite universitiesin the nation, such as Eboka’schance to attend Berkeley,are common options amongCSUSB’s top 1 percent students.Staying near home wasEboka’s lure. “I like San Bernardinoand hope to workhere some day,” she says, havingalso been influenced byher sister’s experience withCSUSB’s nursing program. Butthe question still had to beanswered. Would she get asgood an education?inspiring n involved n brightest n CSUSB n motivated n best n passionate n president’s academic excellence scholarshipEboka thought so. Sodid Wolfinbarger. She rejectsthe perception that studentscan only get the most thoroughcurriculums at expensive,high-profile institutions.She felt fortunate, she says, toget a better price for the sameeducation.Broken down, that “sameeducation” comes in two partsfor Joshua Gutierrez — smallerclass sizes, good professors.As an English major, Gutierrezsays, “Hands down, in eachclass there’s a maximum of 20-25 people. But in my favoriteclasses, there are 10-15 people.And you’ll pretty much beone-on-one with a renownedauthor or someone just aswell-versed in their field.”Eboka believes she’s “learningmore here, because theclasses are smaller and I cantalk with my teachers insteadof having classes with hundredsof students.”Whether the classes arelarge or small, PAES studentsbring an enriched brand of intellectualsynergy to the classroom.“The PAES scholars arethe proverbial tide that liftsall boats,” Karnig says, notingthat the scholars take greaterclass loads, achieve moreand inspire fellow students todo better in school. “They arehighly motivated and very intelligent,and they set highmarks for others.”While PAES students feeladded pressure to do well andmaintain that 3.5 grade pointaverage, it’s often a pressurethey administer themselves.They don’t much care for anythingless than A’s or maybethe occasional B. “I’m just acompetitive person,” Wolfinbargersays, “more with myselfthan with other people.” Andwhen she ran all A’s her firstyear of high school, her fathersaid, “You could be valedictorian.”She hadn’t looked ather grades that way. But fromthat moment on she made ita goal.It was not a goal shereached. Still, she finishedthird or fourth in her class,easily landing her in the top1 percent. “It’s kind of like thatquote, ‘If you shoot for themoon and if you don’t makeit, at least you’ll fall among thestars.’ I kind of feel like that’swhat I did in high school.”It’s what she’s doing in college,too. It’s what all PAESstudents do in college. Shootfor the moon. ●Joshua Gutierrez describes thefive-week program for Teachfor America as “teacher bootcamp.” Training at JergensenElementary School in Phoenixthis past summer, his day beganwith a 6:30 a.m. bus to work andended about 1 the next morning.csusb magazine | 13