Giving it their all

Deirdre Newman

IN THE IVY LEAGUE

SOCRATES CRUZ

Costa Mesa High School senior Socrates Cruz lives up to his namesake

-- the sage, Greek philosopher whose ideas were ahead of his time.

Cruz, 17, who will attend Harvard in the fall, helped to realize his

parents’ dreams of having their children be the first generation to

attend college. His older brother, Edson, attends UC Irvine.

His insatiable curiosity about life inspired him to immerse himself in

the high school experience, earning accolades from his teachers and the

community.

Chemistry teacher Joe Havens, also a Harvard alum, describes Cruz as

the quintessential Renaissance man.

“I always think of him as a great math and science student,” Havens

said. “But then I’ll read one of his essays, and I’ll realize, ‘I can’t

write near what he can write.’ . . . He has a breadth of knowledge that

is outstanding.”

Cruz, whose family immigrated from Mexico when he was 2, started Costa

Mesa High School -- a seventh- through 12th-grade school -- when he was

in the seventh grade.

His parents motivated him to constantly seek out new challenges.

“It’s been set out by my parents that [I] need to get an education,

not underachieve,” Cruz said. “[I] need to take advantages of

opportunities -- both social and educational.”

Although he experienced a bout of shyness when he was younger, Cruz

said he was buoyed by the confident projection of his first-grade teacher

at College Park Elementary School in Costa Mesa.

“She would always tell my mom I would grow out of being shy and make

my parents proud,” Cruz recalled.

And grow out of it he did.

In high school, he dove into such activities as playing soccer,

participating in the academic decathlon, reporting and writing poetry for

the school paper, editing a section of the yearbook, dressing up as the

school’s “Marty the Mustang” mascot, and founding a “junto” club, modeled

on a society of the same name once led by Benjamin Franklin.

An experience participating in Boys State -- a model government

program -- the summer before his junior year, when he gave up running for

governor because he didn’t think he would win and ran for superintendent

instead, taught him a valuable lesson.

“When I came back, I decided I never wanted to regret anything,” Cruz

said.

So in addition to applying to his first-choice school -- UC Berkeley

-- Cruz decided to follow a friend’s lead and apply to Harvard as well.

He got into Harvard and not Berkeley.

Cruz spoke to students at Rea Elementary School last week to motivate

them to set their sights high.

“Since they are mostly Hispanic and since [Hispanics] are

underrepresented in college, I felt similar to them,” Cruz said. “[I told

them] they should not use their ethnicity as an excuse for failure, but

use it as an advantage.’

Cruz received a $1,000 scholarship from the Ronald McDonald House

Charities for contributions to his school and community.

In addition to his versatility, Cruz also earns praise for his

character.

“Socrates has a character that I have not seen in probably any high

school student in my 16 years of teaching,” Havens said. “He has a really

kind, warm sense of humor and a smile that makes everybody comfortable.”

Although Cruz is not sure what he will study at Harvard, he said he is

thinking about a career in medicine eventually.

***

ON HIS OWN TERMS

CHRIS CANDELARIA

Since he was a young child, Chris Candelaria has struggled with

debilitating allergies that have forced him to miss school for weeks at a

time.

While some of his previous schools had expressed suspicions about his

extended absences, at Monte Vista High School in Costa Mesa he found a

supportive environment where he could work at his own pace.

Candelaria, 18, who will graduate today, found such success at the

alternative high school that he was honored for his excellence in science

and computers with a Les Miller Outstanding Student Award.

Because of a weak immune system, Candelaria suffers from frequent

sinus infections. He started home schooling in Irvine when he was in the

fifth grade.

When it was time for high school, Candelaria said he was intimidated

by the prospect.

“My previous teacher had a very rigorous curriculum and was always

telling me how high school was 20 billion times harder,” Candelaria said.

“I originally didn’t want to come here.”

But meeting the teachers on campus assuaged his fears, and he quickly

grew to appreciate the intimate nature of the campus. The school enables

students to work independently on their class material at home and come

in a few times a week to meet with their teachers.

“This school has allowed me -- when I disappeared for a little bit --

they work with you,” Candelaria said. “They’re very understanding. They

find some way to work around it.”

Likewise, teachers at the school have been impressed with his

diagnostic skills.

“He’s come in my room, and if there’s a kid who’s stuck Chris will sit

and figure out with that kid exactly what’s causing the problem,” Lynn

Blanton said. “He’s very good.”

Candelaria also said the practical focus of the curriculum enabled him

to see subjects such as math and history in a different perspective.

“I was always questioning [my history teacher] -- ‘Why are we learning

this?”’ Candelaria said. “His ways of explaining were interesting and

adequate.”

Candelaria said he was “blown away” when he received the honor for

academic excellence.

In the fall, Candelaria will attend the DeVry Institute, where he will

continue to pursue his interest in electronics.

***

PURE DETERMINATION

TIFFANY JOHNSON

Tiffany Johnson did not let a snowboarding accident derail her plans

to finish high school.

Johnson, 17, who broke some of her ribs on the slopes during her

junior year, missed too much school to finish her course work at the

traditional district school she attended.

So she opted to switch to Monte Vista High School in January of her

junior year, harboring some reservations about the change.

“I was a little scared before I came here because I thought it was the

easy way out,” Johnson said.

But Johnson’s misgivings soon gave way to an affinity for the school

that enabled her to work full time while completing her studies.

The motivated student became an expert in time management, putting her

procrastinating days behind her.

“It’s just about managing my time,” she said. “I got my black book out

and finally used it. I made appointments with myself, saying I will do

some homework on my lunch hour.”

Johnson, who moved out of her parents’ house two years ago, said she

realized Monte Vista was not the easy way out, because there are still

tests and homework.

Johnson, who wants to be a cardiovascular surgeon, said she didn’t

miss the social interaction of her old high school.

“[It] was so clique-y,” she said. “People were so concerned with their

clothes and superficial things.”

Johnson has already started Orange Coast College while continuing to

work full time.

Her teachers at Monte Vista know she has the grit and determination to

accomplish anything she sets her mind to.

“Tiffany has a wonderful work ethic,” Blanton said. “She just

prioritizes what she needs to get done and gets it done.”

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .