It’s a new quarter and #ActivateTalent is back with another adventure to tell. We’ve been searching the campus, finding the very best anteaters among us so we can shine a spotlight on their accomplishments. Every student at UCI has a story of how they earned their place at our beloved university, but some stories are truly exceptional. I mean Bill Gates exceptional.
Well, not quite Bill Gates, but close enough.
Fernando Cano is an outstanding student, and that’s why he was a recipient of the exclusive Gates Millennium Scholarship – funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – which allows him to live his dream at UCI. But sometimes our brightest dreams grow from our most painful experiences.
As Fernando put it, “I had to overcome many obstacles growing up because I did not have parental support, encouragement or guidance. This inevitably led to several emotional, economic and social hardships.”
The sad reality of the United States today is that families who come searching for a better life are often met with the harshest punishment imaginable: being separated from their children. Fernando was 13 when it happened, and his family has never completely healed.
“I watched my parents forced out of their home. After realizing my parents were being deported, I knew that their final words to console me would not change their outcome. However, this traumatic event inspired me to become courageous, unrelenting and ambitious.”
Fernando’s story, while most common in the Latinx community, concerns us all. The injustice we tolerate today will be used against us tomorrow. At UCI, we support and validate the experiences of undocumented immigrants through our UCI Dreamers program, and honor the sacrifices made by previous generations to get to this country through the UCI First-Generation Faculty Initiative.
“Earlier this year, UCI was recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. This means that about 25% of UCI undergraduates identify with the Latinx community. As a first generation Mexican-American college student, I contribute to this cultural diversity.”
Fernando is an astounding example of taking your darkest times and making them your greatest strengths, and your hope for the future. His family’s struggle to heal from their traumatic experiences led to psychological manifestations such as chronic depression and addiction. However, that just made Fernando more determined to succeed — and succeed he has. Not only is Fernando on track to graduate as a Biological Sciences major this year, but he is also a research intern for the Center for Environmental Biology and a research assistant for Evolutionary Biology.
“My family’s experiences sparked my interests in addictive and neurodegenerative disorders. Although these challenges were initially overwhelming, they encouraged me to pursue a college education. Incidentally, science fascinated me the most because it offered explanations to puzzling questions but also leaving some unanswered.”
For Fernando, it was a long road to UCI filled with socioeconomic and cultural barriers, many of which resonate with UCI’s enormous first-generation population.
“Growing up in a Mexican household and a predominately Latinx community, Spanish became my native language. On the other hand, English was difficult to grasp because I did not receive exposure to it outside of school. As a result, I performed poorly in school and state exams.
However, I worked hard to overcome this language barrier. Eventually, school became a formative part of my life.”
Cano has been formative to UCI as well, both on campus and abroad. Thanks to the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship, after studying abroad at the University of Sussex, he has led workshops and discussions promoting these programs as real options for lower-income families and motivating students to reconnect with their culture outside of the United States.
Motivating, overcoming, over-achieving – all these words describe Fernando Cano to a tee. So what does he believe about the #ActivateTalent campaign?
“I believe as long as people are willing to reveal and refine their talent, it will know no boundaries. I believe exceptional talents cannot go unnoticed. And I believe such talents can be found across all income levels and all cultures. It’s all a matter of investing in one’s passions.”
To find Fernando Cano online, follow his LinkedIn page, and keep up with his amazing accomplishments!