Two college-bound Waltham grads inspire new narrative for Latino students

Can Waltham High School reverse the growing perception — prompted by a low state assessment ranking and cuts to its ESL program — that it is not doing an effective job preparing its Latino students to pursue a college-based career path? 

If two recent Latino Waltham High School graduates, who also happen to be best friends, have anything to say about it, the school is already on its way to setting new standards and aspirations for Latino students. 

The two — Linda Herrera and Haybi Garcia — leveraged Waltham High’s ESL classes and college counseling programs to earn admission to Boston College, where they will begin this fall. They have also each staked out demanding part-time jobs and internships, and still find time to serve as mentors to other Waltham High School students and recent graduates. 

Each took a precarious path to the United States before launching onto their fast-track college admission success. Herrera had just lost her mother and become an orphan in Colombia in 2021 when she decided to travel alone to the U.S. to join an older sister who lives in Waltham.

She entered WHS as a junior who needed help with her English. “When I first arrived at Waltham High School, I took a placement exam to assess my academic levels in each subject and determine my appropriate class placements. Based on the results, I started in ESL Level 2. The English knowledge I possessed at the time was what I had previously learned in high school back in Colombia,” she said.

“The ESL program was incredibly important to me. It helped me build confidence in my knowledge, taught me how to communicate effectively and pushed me out of my comfort zone. Even though our classes were comprised almost entirely of fellow Latino students, this environment actually gave us a safe space and more confidence to practice speaking with one another.” Noting that there have been cuts in the ESL program since she graduated from WHS, Herrera said, “I don’t know what I would do if I was there and there was no ESL.” 

A grueling journey to Waltham

For Garcia, the transition to the United States was especially traumatic. Gang violence in Guatemala City made life increasingly difficult for all members of her family, including her father, who was a policeman. A gang leader had decided he wanted to marry Haybi when she was only 11. 

Things got more challenging not long after when her family decided she should leave Guatemala, as she recalled in a speech last year accepting 2024 Youth of the Year honors from the Waltham Boys & Girls Club. She recalled the trip, and how she almost didn’t make it: “I was 12 years old in the summer of 2019, living in Guatemala, and was the caretaker for my younger siblings. I can clearly remember the call from my mother, who was living in the United States, telling me that I was to take the journey, to join her, with my two younger siblings, by myself. I felt lost and trapped between leaving my home, which was unsafe, and traveling somewhere new with so much uncertainty and responsibility,” Garcia said.

“All I could think about was, ‘Why me?’ I had already endured so much adversity. The thought of ending my life seemed like the only solution. As my siblings slept, the silence around was a reminder of the weight of my decision. As I stared into the void, searching for a sign or the perfect moment to end my suffering, my sister’s voice unexpectedly pierced the silence. She asked me to make her favorite sandwich for school the next day. At that moment, it hit me that the decision would destroy my siblings. They relied on me, and I couldn’t bear the thought of causing them harm. So instead, I made a different choice — to take on the responsibility of bringing them to the U.S.,” she said.

“A journey that was supposed to be seven days took us three long months, 90 grueling days and a total of 2,190 hours. Despite the hardships and challenges along the way, I knew deep down that it was worth it for their well being and their future. What I did not expect, however, was to begin building a future for myself.”

Like Herrera, Garcia did much work in the high school’s ESL program, which she says “was extremely helpful and important, even when some areas were repetitive and unnecessary.”

The college search, finding the best fit

The two looked at a number of college options they learned about via the high school’s college counseling program, including Brandeis, Emmanuel College, UMass Boston and Framingham State. While Herrera had had an internship at Brandeis while she was at WHS, Messina College, which is affiliated with Boston College, stood out to her as the best college option. “From the very beginning, I felt that Messina offered everything I was looking for as a first-generation student and an immigrant. I truly identified with their mission and vision” of educating immigrant students. It also helped on financial aid. My biggest challenge was financial and legal. When I was applying to colleges, I had not yet received my Social Security number, which made me ineligible for many state-level and institutional financial aid packages. Therefore, Messina became the best path forward…because of financial accessibility,” Garcia said.

Garcia said she could have gone to Brandeis, Framingham State or Emmanuel College, “but I didn’t feel like those were the best for me (compared to) Messina.”

After two years at Messina to gain associate degrees, they each applied to Boston College and were admitted. This fall, Herrera will be working toward a degree in management and Garcia toward a degree in psychology. Herrera hopes to keep working part time at a Waltham flooring company where she has worked for the last year; before that, she had an internship at a Waltham wealth management company. 

The two have also made themselves available to other Latino students struggling to succeed with a new language and culture. “I met many immigrant students with stories similar to mine” while at Waltham HS, Herrera said. She wanted them to “see through my experience that their education doesn’t have to end with high school.” Garcia built on her difficult journey to the United States to offer a creative writing course at the Waltham Boys & Girls Club, where she has worked part time as a counselor since high school. 

Officials at Messina College could not be reached for input on their outreach efforts to attract Waltham High School graduates.