Aldo G Garcia

PROFILE: Aldo Garcia can remember the exact moment when he discovered what he wanted to do with his life. He was five years old and living in a cramped apartment in Mexico City with his mom and siblings. On that fateful afternoon, Aldo’s mother brought home a computer from work. “Even though I was not supposed to, I turned it on and I was amazed.” As Aldo grew older he learned about computers and most other gadgets, not in a classroom, but by reading manuals and magazines. It was an “on the job” education for Aldo and his pursuit of knowledge became his passion. The birth of the Internet was Aldo’s ticket to the future. “The Internet became my boundless source of knowledge,” said Aldo who chose engineering as his college major, not only to develop his interests in electronics, computer science, and robotics, “but also because technology and science can empower all of us, as it did me.” In May 2010, just a few years after moving north from Mexico with limited means, Aldo was named the valedictorian at Cañada College.

INSPIRATION: Cañada College’s Cathy Lipe was the first faculty Aldo met when he began classes in fall 2008. Ms. Lipe, who directs the Math and Engineering Science Achievement Program at Cañada, not only became Aldo’s mentor but his close friend as well. “She pushed me to do better and to get involved in the community.”

ASPIRATION: Aldo hopes to study computer science and engineering geared toward his newfound interest in robotics. He hopes to pursue research in technology “that enhances human lives.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Along with his longtime girlfriend, classmate and fellow Cooke Scholar, Violeta Crow, Aldo started the Cañada College robotics club which won a regional community college robotics competition. The team built two robots and performed intricate missions in the competition. The day his team won “I started feeling like an engineer and understood the power of collaboration and hard work.”

ACCOLADES: Aldo was valedictorian of his college class and placed third in the Math Engineering Science Achievement All-State Math Contest for the Bay Area. In addition, he presented two papers at an Honors Research Symposium, one about Andy Warhol and the other one about the hippie movement and sexuality.

INTERESTING FACT: Aldo is an excellent cook and even taught a class in cooking when he was in high school.