Wrote about Jose Ortiz, who came to the U.S. without papers as a child and who won a full scholarship to Duke University.

1. 18 AUGUST 2016
WRITTEN BY AMBER KEISTER
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JONATHAN FREDIN
José San Martin Ortiz doesn’t want to
be known as the Hispanic guy, the poor
guy, or even the smart guy — not that he isn’t
all of those. He wants to be the guy who is
making a difference.
“I want to have high hopes, because I
don’t want to settle for less,” he said. “I want
to make the biggest change I can make.”
José, 18, graduated in June from
Fuquay-Varina High School in the top 5
percent of his class. This fall he will at-
tend Duke University as one of the first
30 beneficiaries of the Washington Duke
scholarship, which supports talented stu-
dents who are the first in their families to
attend college.
“Mom was so excited when I got the
news,” he said of his acceptance letter. “I
wish I’d filmed it. The family was jumping
and screaming.”
Duke was a reach school for him, but
then, attending college at all was a reach.
José is not a legal resident of the U.S.
Born in Mexico, he was brought to the
United States by his mother in 2005, along
with an older sister and younger brother.
A few years later, his father was deported,
and the remaining family settled in North
Carolina.
“What really made me want to work in
government is seeing my mom struggle ev-
ery day,” José said. “At any point, she could
be pulled over and deported. That’s my big-
gest fear. I want to work in government to
try and change that. Not only for Hispan-
ics, but any immigrant who’s struggling. I
want to help them.”
He plans to study public policy and
economics, with the goal of working in ad-
vocacy or politics. José isn’t sure how that
goal will take shape, although he says his
dream would be to work as a consultant in
the White House.
Lindsey Biller, José’s counselor at
Fuquay-Varina High, says getting to know
him has made her look at life differently.
“No matter what circumstances are put
on him, the adversity he’s faced and seen,
he’s managed to rise above it,” she said. “He
wants to beat the stereotypes that are on His-
panic immigrants. All he wants to do is make
a difference.”
José may not have a path to citizenship,
but he does have legal standing thanks to
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arriv-
als (DACA) program enacted by the Obama
administration in June 2012, just as José
entered high school. He is exempt from
deportation, and he has a work permit and
driver’s license.
He can attend college, but isn’t eligible
for in-state tuition or financial aid at pub-
lic universities. Because money has always
been tight for his housekeeper mother and
electrician stepfather, José knew his only
college option was to earn a scholarship to
a private school.
“I didn’t have as many resources for
success as other kids. My family is very, very
poor,” he said.
José used that as an incentive to work
harder in school. He took as many Advanced
Placement courses as he could, 12 in all. He
earned the highest grade on the AP Statis-
tics exam that his teacher had seen in 10
years. He won the Bobby Hamilton Award
for overall excellence in math from Fuquay-
Varina High.
It all helped earn him the Washing-
continued on page 22
JOSÉ ORTIZ AIMS TO OVERCOME STEREOTYPES,
FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY
Passion for Public Service
BACK SCHOOLTO
NOTABLE TEENS
“I WANT TO HAVE
HIGH HOPES, BECAUSE
I DON’T WANT TO SETTLE
FOR LESS. I WANT TO
MAKE THE BIGGEST
CHANGE I CAN MAKE.”
— JOSÉ SAN MARTIN ORTIZ

2. CARY MAGAZINE 19
José San Martin Ortiz
doesn't like to talk
about the obstacles
he's overcome, saying
he'd rather focus on the
opportunities he's had.
Chief among these is
his mother's influence.
"I want to make her
proud," he says.

3. 22 AUGUST 2016
maintaining town history, and it could be
utilized and appreciated where it is.”
Sarah’s leadership skills have been
honed by participation in the Shelton
Challenge through The General Hugh
Shelton Leadership Center, and the Na-
tional Youth Leadership Conference in
Washington, D.C.
She applied those skills at Panther
Creek High, building its once-struggling
Key Club into one of the largest in the
Carolinas district at 400 members, and
setting strict expectations for all. The role
as 2015-16 club president was, she says, “a
huge undertaking.”
In other words, it was just her style.
“I like to work hard, have a goal and
accomplish it,” said Sarah, who uses a
color-coded system to stay organized —
although she admits her room can get
messy at times. “It brings me a lot of hap-
piness to be part of something that makes
an impact.
“To me, leadership is knowing when
to guide people in the right direction and
when to step back and be a follower and let
them lead,” she said. “It’s empowering oth-
ers to act, to work toward a common goal.”
In her senior year at Panther Creek,
Sarah will keep up the good work with
Key Club and her school’s chapter of the
National Honor Society, and serve as chief
co-editor of the yearbook.
She also will continue her appear-
ances on the Town of Cary’s monthly epi-
sodes of BUD TV, and with the Friends,
working to ensure the sustainability of
Young Friends.
Then it will be off to college, to dou-
ble major in Spanish and perhaps political
science.
Sarah has two pieces of wisdom
for other teens: “Listen to your mom,
because she knows a lot, and try new
things. Involve yourself in every aspect
of them possible, until you find what you
enjoy.”
ton Duke scholarship, which includes
tuition, expenses, paid internships and
mentoring.
Biller says José’s success is due to his
work ethic and his family.
“He’s been raised in an extremely lov-
ing and supportive family,” she said. “His
mom has taught him the value of hard
work, and that you can’t allow your cir-
cumstances to define you. Hard work has
been instilled in him since he came to the
United States.”
José also relies on his friends and
classmates to push and support him.
Sophomore and junior years in high
school, he was on the cross country and
track teams, hitching rides with friends
who had cars. Another friend helped him
get hired at Mathnasium, a perfect fit for
a math whiz like José.
“I loved seeing kids understand a sub-
ject that is considered one of the hardest
to wrap your head around,” he said. “Be
it little kids finally understanding what
it means to add two numbers, or high-
schoolers understanding trigonometry, it
was always amazing to see the lightbulb
light up.”
But as much as he liked tutoring kids,
his passion for public service was greater.
José quit his job in June to prepare for
Duke’s summer enrichment program.
“I’m really good at math, but I don’t
want to do it for a living,” he said. “If I’m
an engineer I won’t make a change in the
world. I just want to help people like me,
and my mom.”
Ortiz continued from page 18
Welsch continued from page 20
“I LIKE TO WORK HARD,
HAVE A GOAL AND
ACCOMPLISH IT. IT BRINGS
ME A LOT OF HAPPINESS TO
BE PART OF SOMETHING
THAT MAKES AN IMPACT.”
— SARAH WELSCH
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