TOP STORY, APRIL: Tale of Triumph

In preparation for the New Year the Observer is taking the holiday week to reflect on the big stories of the year. We are counting down the top 12 stories of 2011 for all Observers. Check back each day for a reprinting — and any relevant updates — of the biggest news items of the year. Updates at bottom.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2011

BRADEN RIVER — Footsteps echo off the white tiles and bare walls in the tiny duplex 18-year-old Leonardo Leal-Guerrero is calling home these days. There’s not a piece of furniture in sight. It’s almost as if no one lives here at all.

The Braden River High School senior’s bedroom offers slightly more furnishings — a closet, a dresser and a bed covered with sheets and an unzipped sleeping bag for a comforter. Noticeably absent are the usual teenage possessions — posters, DVDs, a music collection. After bouncing from home to home and enrolling in three different high schools in as many years, Leonardo has perfected the art of leaving quickly.

But that isn’t to say there isn’t importance here. Somewhere in a pile of paperwork sits Leonardo’s most prized possessions — acceptance letters to both Harvard and Stanford universities. They serve as both the promise of the American dream and the culmination of years of struggle as an immigrant child from Mexico whose road to graduation has been anything but ordinary.

Both prestigious universities have offered Leonardo scholarships, and both are actively recruiting the honors student, who also will have completed his associate’s degree at State College of Florida by summer’s end.

Birth of a dream
Leonardo’s life could have been different, and he used to wonder why it wasn’t or what he had done to deserve his predicament.

Maybe he could have been born into a family with money or one that valued education. Maybe he wouldn’t have been homeless. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to worry about having food to eat or a roof over his head.

But questions of “What if?” don’t change anything. And Leonardo is not a victim — of circumstance or anything else.

“Sometimes, there are things in life you cannot escape,” he says. “This was one of them.”

Born in Mexico on March 22, 1993, Leonardo grew up primarily in the care of his grandmother.

“I was always provided for,” Leonardo says. “The basic necessities — food, clothing — I had. I’ve had a pretty good life. However, my grandmother has always been sick with heart disease.”

Because of his grandmother’s failing health, Leonardo immigrated to the United States when he was 12. And even though his mother was here, that home also included an oppressive and abusive stepfather.

“My family prevented me from living with (my mom) and my stepfather,” Leonardo says. “They knew (what) I would face.”

At first, Leonardo stayed with his aunt and uncle along with another aunt and two cousins in a small duplex. With seven people under one roof, money was tight, and after two years, Leonardo had to find another place to stay.

“I was very afraid,” he says of the living situation. “I used to hear them argue about supporting (the family).”

Despite the uncertainties, Leonardo clung to his understanding that an education could change his future.

“Since Mexico, I saw how people suffered because they didn’t find jobs quickly or the money they earned wouldn’t support their families,” he says. “That could be easily solved with a stable job and a good education.”

Although he knew no English when he started the seventh grade at Johnson Middle School, with the support of his teachers, Leonardo earned straight As throughout his first year. He practiced English constantly by reading, studying vocabulary, watching the news and translating words he didn’t know.

By the time he entered eighth grade, he no longer needed special language classes.

Each time the task seemed insurmountable, Leonardo pushed forward, determined to break out of his family’s cycle of poverty as well as to fulfill a promise to his grandmother and guidance from God to stay in school.

It was never easy.

The long road
In the last three years, Leonardo attended three different high schools — Braden River, Palmetto and Lennard (Ruskin) — and moved five times, staying in each location anywhere from two months to about one year.

Leonardo attended Palmetto his junior year. During that year, he and one of his cousins moved into a house in Sarasota because they got a good deal on rent. To get to school, Leonardo used the public transit system, rising before 5 a.m. daily to spend two hours on a bus.

“I thank God it took me to high school on time every day,” he says. “I didn’t suffer really. I didn’t feel bad about taking the bus. At least I had a place to live — that’s what I was grateful for.”

But logistical nightmares were only part of Leonardo’s struggles. In late 2009, while Leonardo was living with his mother, stepfather and stepbrothers, his stepfather became increasingly oppressive.

“He wanted me to quit school and get a job to support the house,” Leonardo says. “He actually kicked me out one day because I said I was not going to leave school. It was 11 p.m. on a Friday. I had to stay with one of my neighbors for the night.”

The next morning, Leonardo returned, but his stepfather hadn’t changed his mind.

“He kicked me out again,” Leonardo says. “I called the police. I called family. We all left the house.”

Leonardo and his family stayed in the spare bedroom of a cousin’s house. But after two months, his mother returned to her husband, her two younger sons in tow. Leonardo was devastated but continued to push toward his dream, further engaging organizations such as Project Heart, a program that helps students who are homeless or about to become homeless, for food, clothes, school supplies and other items, such as college applications, he could not afford on his own.

Through the help of Gulf Coast Legal Aid, Leonardo obtained a special VISA. In July 2010, his mother relinquished guardianship of Leonardo to another family member.

This year, Leonardo again is enrolled at Braden River, from where he will earn a high school diploma.
“Even when I was small, I understood education was the key that could unlock closed doors,” he says. “If I was in a country that offered help, I was not going to be an example of wasting it.”

Ambition
Leonardo breaks into a wide grin thinking about his academic accomplishments, particularly his scores on his AP tests.

“I just work as hard as I can — not to compete,” he says.

As of April 1, Leonardo’s 4.66 weighted grade-point average placed him as valedictorian of his senior class. Un-weighted, he’ll graduate third, says Manatee County Public School’s Project HEART Program Manager Deb Bailey.

“In my 14 years as a school social worker for the district’s homeless education program, I have never met such a determined student,” Bailey says.

With his high school coursework complete, Leonardo since January has been dually enrolled at State College of Florida, where he is earning his associate’s degree. He expects to finish his last class this summer.

In college, Leonardo plans to study business — possibly economics and international business — because he enjoys learning languages and loves to travel, or medicine — likely either cardiology or neurology.

And although his education will whisk him to either Massachusetts or California this fall, Leonardo says his heart won’t stray too far from home. He still worries about his stepbrothers, who remain under the care of his stepfather, his mother and his grandmother. He hopes one day he can provide financial support to the family members who have helped him.

“This country was founded on the hopes of immigrants,” Leonardo says. “Even if you are poor or don’t have the support you need or face difficulties — like not knowing the language — in this country, there is opportunity for social mobility. If you fight for your dreams, they can come true if you have enough motivation and perseverance.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].


UPDATE: Ultimately, Leonardo Leal-Guerrero chose to attend Stanford University, where he is studying public policy and Latin-American studies. He also is working as a lab assistant in Stanford’s biology department.