Lupe Jeronimo
The name “Lupe” is well-known and respected among the students at Willamette Academy.
Lupe Jeronimo, a senior at McKay High School, has a quiet, friendly, laid-back nature and enjoys being a role model to the younger students. On the last morning of his final summer camp, during a community-building exercise, other students called him “a helpful leader,” “good at being [him]self,” and “fun to be around.” “Keep it up you guys,” he told them. “Whatever you want to do, don’t let anyone stop you. Just do your best.”
Lupe has had plenty of ups and downs in his life, but here, on the verge of graduation, he thinks only about the ups — staying true to his positive nature. “I’m really excited to go to college,” he says. “I’m looking forward to my classes, and I’m ready to work hard.”
Lupe applied to Willamette, Western Oregon University and Fresno State University. A few low grades from early in his high school career granted him only conditional admission to Willamette: He can’t attend Willamette this fall, but if he does well at another college, he could be admitted the following year. He was accepted to the two other schools and likely will head to Western, where he is considering study in criminal justice, teaching or music.
“I said to myself that I was going to fight to get into Willamette,” he says. “I tried to see it as, ‘They don’t want me here right now, but I can go somewhere else for a year and show them what I can do.’ Willamette missed out on me the first time, but they’ll see me again.”
Lupe was born in Fresno, Calif., and his parents were migrant farm workers from Mexico. The family moved to Oregon when Lupe was in second grade because they preferred the Northwest’s relaxed environment — and wanted to keep their children away from the influence of gangs. “I wasn’t in a gang, but I was kickin’ it with people who were,” Lupe says. “Some uncles in my family were gang bangers, and I was looking up to them. Mom always said, ‘Stay in school. Don’t be like your uncles.’”
The oldest of six children, Lupe was shy before entering Willamette Academy — but no more. “Once I came through here, I learned how to get to know people. Before, I would just stay in my one group of friends. At Willamette, we interacted with other cultures, and I started to do that more when I went back to school. Now I just go up to anyone and say, ‘Hi, what’s up? My name is Lupe. You want to go play basketball or something?’”
As Lupe opened up, he joined numerous extracurricular activities including football, track and field, swimming, marching band, jazz band and a mentoring organization to help freshmen at his school.
He hopes to become the first in his family to earn a college degree, and his experiences mentoring others at Willamette Academy have affected him deeply. “I like getting out there in the community, talking to the little ones about not getting into gangs and about staying in school. The younger ones look up to us and try to be like us. Looking at someone who succeeds makes you want to succeed.”