/
For Making Waves Academy soccer coaches and father and son duo Barry Argueta and Alexis Argueta, soccer is more than just a game. It’s a way of building community, a way to give back, and a way of spending quality time with family.
“In high school, a 5.5-mile bridge separated my life between two different worlds,” says Yessenia. “During the day, I attended a private high school in Marin County where wealth surfaced the city. At night, the sound of fireworks and gunshots were an undistinguishable noise in Richmond. It was then that I became curious to explore the wide range of inequalities in both worlds I lived in,” says Yessenia, who also recalls the significance of reading the Wave-Maker Affirmation—a declaration of guiding principles for Making Waves students—starting in 5th grade.
When Jose C. was in the fourth grade and his mother brought him to an interview to join the Making Waves Education Program, he didn’t realize it would change his trajectory for the next 12 plus years. Upon graduating from high school in San Francisco, Jose received continued support from Making Waves through a scholarship and one-on-one coaching for college. Now, he has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of California, Merced, and works as an Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) and volunteer firefighter in the Bay Area.
Part of the ‘7th Wave’ of students in the then Making Waves Education Program, Carol T. become interested in the combination of the sciences and human rights at an early age. Carol’s interest quickly grew into passion. She is now a first-year internal medicine resident physician at Highland Hospital in Oakland after earning her bachelor’s degree in the history of science at Harvard University and Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of California, San Francisco.