This teen who pulled his family out of homelessness is headed to Harvard this fall
There are many, many things that make our parents proud of us: good grades, good jobs, our general existence. But there are some scenarios we simply can’t even imagine their reaction to. Like when your high schooler pulls you out of homelessness. Yet, that’s what Jorge Campos has done, and now he’s headed to Harvard in the fall.
After Jorge graduated from middle school, his family fell into some hard times. They bounced from hotel to motel, sometimes staying with friends or in their van. Thankfully, that’s when Jorge’s love of learning came into play. In an interview with Mitú, Jorge says,
“We were coming from a very difficult financial background and I was forced to mature and really, it was around this time of coming into ninth grade that genuine curiosity for learning and education sort of blossomed. I started reading different articles online and reading about FICO Scores and interest rates and banking structures.
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Jorge started budgeting his parents’ accounts, managing the money that was coming in and out to make sure everything was paid on time.
According to Jorge, this meant spending a lot of time on the phone with different bankers and companies, negotiating the best way out of homelessness for his family.
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This fascination and commitment to helping his family out of their difficult situation led him to study economics at Harvard, where he’ll start this fall. He plans on pursuing a masters in public policy, with the goal of working in local government after graduating. By working in fiscal policy, Jorge hopes to address some of the issues his family faced.
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And although hard work is a huge part of success, Jorge also credits having the right attitude as a big part of the equation.
"There was never a moment when they felt completely helpless because there was always an opportunity to take responsibility, an opportunity to make sure that moving forward you put the time and the work in to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish," he says.
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Thank you, Jorge, for reminding us that anything is possible! We’re wishing you all the luck at Harvard this fall! And in case you want to donate to help pay for his expenses at university, his parents set up a GoFundMe.