Orlando Roybal: A Born Leader
Orlando Roybal is a junior at California State University Northridge, majoring in sociology. But that is merely a stepping stone to his goal of earning a graduate degree in educational leadership & policy so that he can make a career working at a university. For someone who was never encouraged or supported to seek post-secondary education, it’s slightly ironic that he has made it his life’s work.
As a high school junior, Orlando lived with a foster mother who had never attended college and didn’t see the benefits for Orlando. So he did much of the work of applying to schools on his own and decided to share that knowledge with his fellow students. As president of the student body his senior year of high school, he made it his mission to help other students prepare for college.
He continues to engage in that work by serving as a peer advisor at Cal State and also working in the financial aid office, helping students find scholarship money. As he points out, former foster youth in California are provided with tuition assistance which diminishes greatly as they progress through a four-year university. Luckily, he is receiving $4,000 a year from Foster Care to Success to help defray expenses.
Orlando works with “special admit” students who are accepted at the university through a program for minority students, reviewing their papers, encouraging and mentoring them. When they ask about his six years in foster care, he explains: “It taught me not to be shy. If you don’t say something, no one else is going to advocate for you.”
And Orlando doesn’t save his encouragement for fellow students. His sister, now 16, is benefiting from her older brother’s wisdom. He says he is making sure that she is taking the right classes to meet college admission requirements and invites her to visit him so she can experience college life. They are both active in United Friends of the Children which provides college tours and SAT preparation. As Orlando prepares for his future, he counsels other former foster youth to “move on and let the past go. Look for the new opportunities.”