Right Place, Right Time: The Doors to Opportunity

 

Being in the right place, at the right time, can go a long way when it comes to the trajectory of a first-generation college student. William Ortiz and his family had heard from a family friend about a middle school and college access program that would show him the path into college. They never expected it to be just around the block from his childhood home.

William had tried applying to Nativity when he was going into fifth grade, but the school had just discontinued the grade level a few years earlier. Preparing for the change that was to come in the next year, William took advantage of the longer, fuller school days his elementary school provided, ending at 4:30. When he was officially accepted into Nativity Prep, William was excited and ready to ride his scooter to school.

He remembers coming into the sixth grade nervous. Soon, his involvement in activities like soccer, yearbook club, field trips, and riding in the vans with friends helped William feel at home. From his time at Nativity, William remembers his time in the classroom. The extended hours the school required allowed him to dedicate time to his studying and to hone the toolkit that he started assembling.

William shared that summer school had a great impact on his Nativity experience, ensuring that he was productive over the summer break. He appreciated the small school culture that would foster an intimate environment where the class could bond and create relationships with one another. The smaller class did lead to some competitiveness among his peers, but this encouraged everyone to become better. They all wanted to succeed and become the best of the best. As a middle schooler, William was chatty, curious, and studious. He could often be found reading a book or exploring the library. He absolutely loved that he was able to wrap up his time at Nativity on the Holy Spirit location, where the library had become a room full of books and computers, instead of a bungalow closet, which he will forever be grateful for as his escape. William recalls the teachers being invested in the performance and growth of each student. Mrs. Xochitl Alvarez held them to high expectations, running a strict program and keeping him and his classmates in check. Mr. Bill Sullivan would encourage him to take more risks and challenge him to set up scenarios like reading out loud in class. 

Some of the most memorable moments for William were spent with his mentor, Paul Bishop. From attending mentoring events together to playing ping pong and completing word puzzles, their time together gave William a sense of what the real world looked like for an adult. He learned many things that made him eager to become an adult himself. William was eager to grow up and get out there, but Paul constantly reminded him to be patient. His time would come. Paul has been an active and supportive presence in William’s life, even becoming his confirmation sponsor.

When the time to apply to high school arrived, things started to get intense. Nativity placed William into a study group of students who were intentionally applying to schools like The Bishop’s School, Francis Parker, and La Jolla Country Day. His recess time would be spent preparing for the entrance exam with an outside tutor at Nativity. With the help of Mrs. Halter, William and his peers would practice their interviewing skills, which would come in handy throughout their journey.

William’s path would lead him to begin the next era of his journey at The Bishop’s School, where nothing could have prepared him for the culture shock he was about to experience. He would now be surrounded by peers who come from privileged backgrounds with abundant resources. They moved about differently and had distinct needs and usage of the resources the school provided to them. Many times, William felt that for every forty student peers, he was the only one on scholarship; however, that didn’t stop him from exploring all the new opportunities available to him.

William wanted to partake in all the activities! As he began taking up extracurriculars, his days started to look like his time at Nativity. Within his first year, William had participated in the ultimate frisbee team, and also dabbled in tennis, volleyball, and lacrosse. He joined World Link, which was a club that allowed him to attend events at the University of San Diego with speakers who would address global issues. He also contributed to productions and joined the school choir, despite practicing from six to eight in the evening. William enjoyed forming part of the group that performed at a nationwide choir event at Carnegie Hall in New York! He will never forget the memories he made on that trip with his peers. By his senior year, he had participated in several plays and concerts as a member of the Bishop’s Singers. In the classroom, he had grown to appreciate plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest. He was able to participate in the play itself during his senior year, which was an amazing opportunity to wrap his time at Bishop’s in the performing arts and gain an appreciation for the stage and the friends that you make by engaging in activities that you love.

William is grateful to Nativity for sending him to a school that provided him with immense educational and developmental support. His academic counselor was able to access realistic options from William based on his academic standing. When junior year came around, he began preparing for the college application process. He benefited from the individualized support of his college counselor, who supported only 30 students.

When he began researching colleges, William attended college fairs and spoke with school representatives. There was a college in particular that caught his attention. Pitzer College is a small liberal arts college that reminded him of Nativity. A small school with endless resources and opportunities that was only two hours away from home! He liked the idea of having access to five college campuses and all the resources each school provided. The Claremont College consortium is astonishing! He would graduate from The Bishop’s School in 2015, ready to begin his journey as a Psychology and Organizational Studies student at Pitzer College.

During his time at Pitzer, William utilized his resources to the fullest extent. His first year, he started the Claremont Comic Book Community, which was central across all college campuses. In his second year, he became a tour guide working for the admissions office. William was also involved in the Chicano-Latino Student Affairs office (CLSA), where he could retreat to connect with Chicanx peers, becoming a mentor in his third year. By senior year, William had worked his way up to the Admissions Fellow role at the office where he conducted interviews for prospective students.

Around his junior year, William started attending career fairs around several of the campuses in search of a workplace that captured the environment of collaboration and closeness that he had experienced in his academics since Nativity. He then came across a small start-up, Clutter, which would welcome him onto its HR team after his college graduation in 2019. Soon after, because of the pandemic, William was laid off and resumed the job hunt. He landed a role with Postmates, working on their design team for a robotic program. He then moved on to work for Omnicom, but after two years, William realized that the corporate environment wasn’t for him.

For the past three years, William has been working for OpenX, where he is a Senior People Operations Coordinator. He dedicates his time to operational support, onboarding employees from all over the world. Managing different time zones like the UK, Germany, France, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, and more has proven to be a positive challenge. William enjoys getting to meet new people from different environments and taking their feedback on how to better improve the organization. William recognizes that he thrives in a start-up environment. Being able to openly communicate and reach out to people without the corporate politics and hierarchy has allowed William to grow and learn as the organization expands. 

William credits Nativity’s holistic approach to allowing him to blossom into the inquisitive young professional he has grown to become. William shares, “Nativity is more than just academics; it’s about nurturing the student as a whole and providing them the skills to thrive in unfamiliar environments. Teaching the student to not be afraid to take chances and explore the possibilities behind the doors they are opening.”