U of I Extension 4-H Youth Development

CESAR SANDOVAL

Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2026

Hometown: Jerome, Idaho

I have a favorite childhood memory of fixing my aunt’s 2008 Honda with my father. He asked me to watch as he removed the radiator, compressor and muffler to access a damaged oil pan. Then he turned the tools over to me and had me put it all back together. The car ran!

I’ve always loved figuring out how things work, and that experience led me to dream of a future of being a mechanical engineer. As the son of a Jerome farm worker, however, I was moving irrigation pipes while still in middle school, and a future of laboring in farm fields seemed far more likely – even though my parents assured me I was meant for bigger things.

You may wonder, then, how I’m here today on the campus of the University of Idaho – a first-generation college student at the start of my sophomore year, on track to accomplish goals that I’d convinced myself were off limits. The answer for me – as well as many of my former classmates at Jerome High School – was UI Extension 4-H Youth Development’s Juntos program.

Juntos means “together” in Spanish, and it provides resources and support to help Latinx youth in grades 8-12 graduate high school and access post-secondary education. At my high school, Juntos was offered during school hours as a for-credit elective course. Juntos brought in motivational speakers, gave us one-on-one coaching and taught us vital skills to help us ease the transition into college. The class on budgeting and finance was especially useful. They helped us fill out college applications and apply for financial aid. I began to realize through Juntos that I was eligible for the same opportunities as everyone else, and that I was more than capable of taking advantage of them.

And there was never a doubt that the Juntos staff cared for us and felt personally vested in our futures. Now that I’m in college, I still get a text from my friends at Juntos wishing me luck at the start of each fall semester. And I still reach out to them when I have questions about where to go to access certain resources.

I’ve continued to receive one-on-one help and tutoring while on campus through the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), which serves students who have seasonal farmwork backgrounds. The CAMP staff arranged for me to return to my high school and share a message with the students, many of whom are no doubt grappling with the same questions I once faced.

…anything is possible – thanks in large part to the generosity of supporters like you.

I told them we are all the same, and we have an opportunity to achieve our dreams no matter what background we come from. I assured them if they really want a higher education, anything is possible – thanks in large part to the generosity of supporters like you.