Carlos is a sophomore at San Diego State University studying mechanical engineering. He also works as a tutor for the OPEN GATE Program.

"OPEN GATE was not only tremendously supportive of me as a young student, but their assistance has continued through college.  The program helped me navigate financial aid and introduced me to scholarship and grant opportunities. They have provided a job for me as an OPEN GATE tutor and through connections with the OPEN GATE Program, I have recently received an internship in mechanical engineering."

The following is an excerpt from the March 2009 Voice of San Diego article, "Grooming the Young, Gifted & Disadvantaged" by Emily Alpert.

"Carlos Gonzalez, now a quiet college freshman, was among the first students in Open Gate a decade ago. Staffers from the program once helped his family find a home a short distance from the school, he said, and the tutors honed his interest in math. His mother remembers it as "the only option" for her exceptional child. He earned high grades at Serra High before enrolling at San Diego State, where he splits his time between his studies and working with Open Gate, tutoring children whose stories echo his own.

"Just giving him attention and being there and hanging out with him -- he doesn't seem as tense anymore," Gonzalez said of one student. "We'll talk about word games and school. And I'm able to help him as a person as well."

Gonzalez sat hunched over on a beanbag on a recent morning at Oak Park Elementary, reading with a shy boy whose sneakers dangled off his armchair, too small to reach the floor. He was one of three tutors sprinkled throughout the room, all reading the same book. Behind them the rest of the class was being peppered with questions by teacher Linh Nguyen as they followed along in the chapter." Read the full article.