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Viviana L. Alcazar

Biography

Viviana Alcazar was awarded an undergraduate transfer scholarship in 2004 to Stanford University. She is continuing her graduate studies with the support ot the Foundation.

Viviana finished high school in her native Mexico before enrolling at Cañada College in Redwood City, CA, where she has majored in literature and achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average only four years after beginning to learn English. Along the way, she received five college and national scholarships, served as president of the college honor society, and was named valedictorian of her class in English as a Second Language. Ms. Alcazar hopes to become a literature professor.

When Viviana left her native Mexico at age 18 and came to the United States, she was determined to seek more education. Her first class was in English as a Second Language and she did so well she graduated as valedictorian and later became a teaching assistant in ESL classes as well as a tutor. English composition became her favorite class, and she was never satisfied with her work until her final essay received an A+ grade.

"Literature has provided me a tool to explore, re-evaluate and discover fresh meaning in what I have taken for granted in my life," she wrote. Her dedication led to five different scholarships at the college and a perfect 4.0 grade point average. After Ms. Alcazar was named to the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, she was elected co-president and took an active role in its community service activities. She also founded the Latin American Friendship Club. Her prominent role inspired other Latina women to seek academic success as well.

In addition to her studies and outside work, Ms. Alcazar had other burdens. She spent a year caring for her mother, who had developed cancer, and became a surrogate mother for three younger siblings. One of her faculty advisers observed that Viviana managed to be a full-time student with top grades, a breadwinner for the family, a caring nurse, and loving big sister all at once.

Ms. Alcazar also served as a role model for high school students, encouraging them to attend college, and delivered a similar message to kindergarten students in minority schools. She sees herself in the future as promoter of a Latina Writers Foundation to provide college scholarships for women interested in literature. "It is my responsibility always to make my best effort with the tools I have," she says.

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