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When you first see Adolfo Maciel you don’t really expect him to be the wise, focused, good student that he is. He wears long baggy t-shirts and baggy pants and keeps his hair almost shaved. He looks like the guy who bumps his stereo in the parking lot. You don’t think that this person is about to graduate from Fresno Pacific University and become a math teacher.
But, when you talk to him, you see he’s not your average 22-year-old. He may tell you about his experiences being a mentor for junior-high and high school students. Or, how he has become attached to the kindergarteners and first-graders that he tutors at a Riverdale primary school. Or, how he’s looking forward to becoming a math teacher so he can be a mentor to his students.
His passion for his work is contagious. His eyes crinkle and light up when he talks about the kids he’s currently working with at West Hills College Lemoore’s summer camp, the 5C Experience.
He credits his Riverdale High School math teacher, Mr. Cordero, for inspiring him to become a math teacher.
“Just seeing him, how he taught math, he would relate math to different fields. He got you interested. His techniques were mind-grabbing,” Maciel said.
He said in high school Cordero was his mentor.
“He was in his mid-20’s, easy to relate to. He grew up a couple towns away. He was this Hispanic guy who liked math. I like math too, so I could relate,” Maciel said.
He said that without Cordero he’d probably never have gone to college, even though he’d always done well in school, and graduated from Riverdale High in 2000 with a 3.9 grade point average.
“Had it not been for Mr. Cordero, I think I’d be working full-time, I’d just be living day to day, not worrying about anyone but myself,” Maciel said.
It was in a pre-calculus class at Riverdale High School that he first met Cordero.
“My first test in that class I got a 100 percent. The best student got a 97 percent. Everyone was surprised when the teacher announced I got the highest score,” he said.
“Mr. Cordero told me I had talent,” Maciel said.
They stayed in contact throughout the rest of high school and with Cordero’s help and guidance; Maciel applied to Fresno Pacific and was accepted. What was even better was he wouldn’t even have to pay for most of it.
Maciel found out that Fresno Pacific had awarded him a $3,000 a year scholarship for his high grade point average at Riverdale High, plus he was getting a Cal Grant, which gave him enough money to cover the first full year at Fresno Pacific.
But, after attending Fresno Pacific for a semester, he heard that he could take the same general education courses at West Hills College Lemoore. Since the commute from Riverdale to Lemoore was only about 15 minutes, versus the half-hour to Fresno Pacific, he chose to go to West Hills.
“I had first planned to just take one semester at West Hills, but I ended up doing three because I liked it so much,” he said.
At West Hills, Maciel found another mentor in English instructor, James Preston. He was in Preston’s introduction to teaching class. When Preston found out that he was interested in teaching junior-high school students, he suggested that Maciel might try being a mentor to middle-schoolers.
Preston told him he thought he’d be a good mentor for the middle-school aged students at WHCL’s 5C Experience summer camp. Maciel decided to volunteer, and has been working at the camp for the last three summers.
Maciel said that he enjoys working with junior high students because he thinks that’s the age when it’s easiest to fall into the wrong crowd. That when he was growing up in Tulare, (he moved to Riverdale as a high school junior) that’s when he saw a lot of his friends drop out of school.
“I want to work with junior high students because I can grab them and get them interested in academics and show them there’s an easier way,” Maciel said.
In his experiences working with the middle schoolers from the camp, he said some of them have asked him about gangs. This is a subject he knows about, from his experiences growing up in Tulare. Some of his friends were involved in gangs, though he never was himself.
“With gangs, it’s about pride. They want to have something to hold onto to. They don’t realize that there’s a lot more out there that they can grab a hold of, I tell them to find other things, like try challenging yourself, in school or in sports, because when you’re in a gang, when things go bad, those people won’t be there,” he said.
According to Maciel, the camp gives students a chance to meet mentors and teachers who can show them what they can achieve.
“When kids talk about camp, they’re happy. When they talk about their lives, their brothers-who are in gangs, they kind of hang their heads down. If that’s all they see, they’ll go into that. But, if they see us--mentors and the teachers, we can try to turn their lives the right way,” he said.
So, what does he tell students to get them interested in doing something positive with their lives, like going to college?
“A lot of them say they want to play basketball, or be musicians, so I tell them, why don’t you get your foot in the door by going to college? Go to college and while there, talk to some professors and counselors. It’s not just the academics, it’s the people you’ll meet, to help you get introduced into the career you want, it’s a stepping stone,” Maciel said.
Maciel says what has kept him driven is his father—seeing his father’s dedication to the family.
According to Maciel, though his father owns a ranch and land in Mexico, he’s stayed here so that his children can have a better life. His father currently works as a farm laborer, and at age 62 still works 60-70 hours a week.
“He’s always proud of me, he tells his friends about my high grade point average. He gave us the opportunity to live the American dream,” Maciel said.
In the fall, Maciel will return for what he hopes is his last semester at Fresno Pacific. After graduating, he hopes to work as a teacher at Riverdale School District.
Maciel smiles as he talks about his hopes for the future.
“I want my students to relate to me somehow, and see I do care for them. I want them to look forward to coming to class and learning,” he said.