The end of high school means a lot of hard working, smart, charismatic folks are leaving such as Senior Fabian Garcia, who will be moving on to higher education. Fabian Garcia has taken part in important aspects of Preuss such as the Pride of Preuss, National Honour Society, and clubs, such as being the president of Black Student Union. Fabian loves to hang out with friends, play video games, watch shows like his favorite The Boys, and spend memorable time with people he cares about.
What other universities were you considering before deciding on UC Berkeley, and what ultimately made you choose Berkeley?
“I was stuck between USC, UC Davis, UC San Diego, and Swarthmore. At the end of the day, it all came down to money. So, I got a full ride at all the California schools, but all my out-of-state schools cost money. My number one school made me pay 90K per semester (Swarthmore), so I was out of the options, so I went with Berkeley.”
What major would you like to pursue and what excites you most about studying that at Berkeley?
“I’m pursuing Biology with a focus in pre-med, hopefully double majoring in public health. I want to become a doctor… I’m pursuing biology to work with, hopefully, pediatrician, become a kid doctor, or just a regular doctor either. ”
Following up on that major, what are your plans after college? Why do you want to be a doctor?
“I want to be a doctor, you know, there’s not many like us. I feel like people of color and men, there’s not a lot of us represented. I feel like in the medicine [field], Latino men especially, they got some of the lowest rates in health, and so I guess we’re representing this side and my face, my people. Pretty important. And so yeah I want to be a doctor, I want to help others, and I’m just, yeah, help others and give medicine.”
What kind of impact do you hope to make in your chosen field?
“I think representation is huge to me. So I want to make an impact of being able to show others that, like, we could do it too. And so I just want to have kids envision themselves in my shoes someday. And so, I want to make an impact, I want to get back to my community someday, come back to where I came from, City Heights, San Diego. And yeah, I will do the best that I can, come back and medically help those in need, for sure.”
What were some of the most challenging aspects of high school for you, and how did you overcome them?
“I think the challenging aspect, definitely on the social side, I think it’s easy to lock in academically, but just fitting in with your peers and keeping, like, I think the mental health part of all this hard work is definitely a challenge I faced. And so I think it’s pretty important to take care of yourself, too, through all the hard work and all the pursuing your aspirations and such.”
Looking back, is there anything you wish you had approached differently in high school?
“No, nothing, because I got to where I wanted to be, and because of what I’d done. So, yeah, no changes.”
How do you feel your high school experience has prepared you for the academic rigor of UC Berkeley?
“From what I’ve heard, it’s very rigorous, even coming from Preuss. But doing all this work here, it definitely sets you up, and so drowning in all the work that we have, like all this, like workload, the excessive work and like the excessive effort we put in, it’s definitely going to be worth it at Berkeley because I know how to time manage, and all of the experience is, I’ve learned that, all of the times where I thought it was too much. It’s definitely going to carry on at Berkeley and I’m going to learn how to deal with my stress, deal with my work overload, and just overall focusing on my priorities, what to do academically, what’s going to give me like [an] academic boost versus what I want to do socially. So balance, priorities, stuff like that.”
What advice would you give to current high school students who aspire to attend a university like UC Berkeley?
“Some advice I would give, be selfish. At the end of the day, it’s you, and what you got to do, just you, man. So focus on yourself and really do what’s best for you and for your academic record, and you guys really just prioritize yourself, prioritize your work, and take those extra efforts, take those sacrifices, because at the end of the day, they’re all going to be important and they’re really going to affect your future. So just focus on you, be selfish.”
What’s the best lesson you learned during high school?
“I feel like the best lesson is [to] make sacrifices, cancel those hangouts with friends, not respond to group chat, turn off your game, focus on your school work.”