Education
CRISTINA AGUIRRE
An Example of Success
Although working in the fields was some of the
most difficult times in Cristina’s life, she wouldn’t
change her experience as it has made her into
the person she is today. Referring to the fields,
Cristina’s father would always say to her: “If you
don’t get an education, here is where you will end
up.” She carries those words with her to this day.
After working so hard as a kid, Aguirre continued
that work ethic as a teenager, becoming the first
one in her family to graduate high school. She
then went on to obtain a Bachelor’s in Sociology
from the University of California, San Diego, and a
Masters of Education with an emphasis in school
counseling from the University of San Diego.
By going to college, she was able to change the
trajectory of her family, and the results have showed
– her younger siblings have all graduated high
school and have gone on to live successful lives.
Aguirre has been at BLCI for a little over 4 years
and continues to be part of the nonprofit’s success
of having 100% of their students attend college.
C
Cristina Aguirre
ristina Aguirre is the Chief Programs
Officer at Barrio Logan College
Institute (BLCI), a nonprofit that helps
underserved students be the first in
their families to go to college through
after school programs that begin in the third grade.
Aguirre was born in Ramona and later moved to
Fresno where she lived with her parents and four
siblings. At 6-years-old, she began helping her mom
with the grapes that she picked as a farmworker, a
task she enjoyed. Once she started middle school,
Cristina was given her own row of grapes to pick and
it was no longer as fun as she once thought it was -
it was hard work which required kneeling for hours.
34 GBSAN.COM | APRIL 2020
Barrio Logan College Institute
www.blci.org