José Caceres

Student

“State Senator from California? I love the idea! Then I could really fight for people’s rights. It sounds like music to my ears!”

“I’ve been here like six years already, so I’m really starting to blend in,” says José Caceres from El Salvador. “The whole issue in El Salvador is that they’re killing teachers and politicians. The government is killing people from the left, and government people get killed by the guerillas. Nobody ever knows who the enemy is, so it is completely confusing. My parents worked at a coffee operation,” José continues, “and there was an organization inside. They didn’t belong to it, but they saw friends of theirs killed, and they decided to get out.”

Though his parents suffered through trauma, José—ever the optimist—says, “I never suffered anything. And now I’m at SMC—the number one transfer community college! I’m taking classes I never even dreamed of,” he says with enthusiasm. “I’ve taken photography, which I love, and even tennis. I never played tennis in my life! It’s wonderful!” But the business of José at SMC—at the moment—is business: a field he hopes will propel him to Berkeley and a career in politics. “If I don’t get to Berkeley, I’ll die!” he says with evident passion. “I’ve been there and talked with a lot of people who say my chances are really good. It’s like a marriage: I love that woman and I can’t wait to marry Berkeley.”

With an obviously poetical mentality, José can wax rhapsodic on a great number of subjects. But some of his greatest ‘prose’ is reserved for some of his SMC teachers. “Marcella Kelly in Business? She’s one of the best,” he says. “She showed me that anything is possible in life. And she gave me a hand when I was about to fall. She pulled me back. And if I ever have a chance to help SMC become a university,” says José, “I will do it. It has given so much to me, and its destiny is something I’d like to fight for.”

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