It seems impossible that the polished, engaging, thoughtful woman who is headed to law school in the fall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas could have been stealing cars at the tender age of 13. Or shoplifting, running away from home and running with what could charitably be called the wrong crowd. But dramatic turnarounds do happen, and Lucy Flores, an honored political science major in USC College, has a turnaround worthy of a movie. One of the youngest of 13 children, she dropped out of high school, as did every one of her siblings except one. But she had been identified as talented and gifted in elementary school. That identification, and a parole officer who believed in her, helped her begin the long journey to a stellar academic career at USC, which she managed despite holding down as many as four jobs while here. She starts to tear up when she talks about how her father, Jose, took out a home loan when tuition was due before her first student loan arrived. At the time, she was such a greenhorn that she didn’t even know the difference between “graduate” and “undergraduate.” But let her tell the story. A few weeks ago, she was awarded the John R. Hubbard Award from the USC Mexican American Alumni Association for being an outstanding student. Her powerful thank-you speech, which tells more about her background, can be read at http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/13875.html


Jorge Soriano

Trojan Knights are known for their service to the community, and you would be hard pressed to come up with a better Trojan Knight than Jorge Soriano, who came to USC after serving his country as a Marine in Kuwait and Iraq. He served in the Marines from 1997 through 2001 and had begun community college when he was called back to service after 9/11. After another year at Camp Pendleton, he was sent to Kuwait. He was there when the war in Iraq began, and his unit crossed the border and headed to Baghdad, where it took over the U.N. compound. Soriano was in charge of a security team and stayed in Iraq until June 2003. The day after his discharge, he was back at community college. It was an abrupt transition, but it kept him from dwelling on the war, he said. Soriano grew up in East Los Angeles and Ontario, and came to USC as a sophomore after earning a perfect 4.0 GPA from Mt. San Antonio College. Raul Vargas, the longtime head of USC’s Mexican American Alumni Association, was instrumental in Soriano becoming a Trojan.

So was a Marine buddy, Rodrigo Sanchez, who graduated from USC in 2005. Soriano has returned the favor, convincing another Marine buddy, Mario Gonzales, to enroll in 2006. He’s currently working on converting yet another Marine friend to the life of a Trojan. Soriano, who graduated with honors with a B.A. in economics, spent countless hours at USC talking to high school students in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus, urging Latinos and other underrepresented groups to consider college as a viable option. This outreach was conducted through Chicanos for Progressive Education, a USC group dedicated to expanding horizons. He also founded Lambda Upsilon Lambda, the first West Coast chapter of a Latino fraternity based in community service. Although it has only 13 members, the group won the “Greek Organization of the Year” honor this year during the Tommy Awards. Soriano has a job lined up as a financial adviser in West Los Angeles, and graduate school is a future possibility. Ultimately, he’d like to teach at the high school or community college level. “So many people have paved the way for me that I feel I have an obligation to give back,” he said.