Raúl Zárate was living a very special moment this Friday accompanied by his parents when he graduated as a sociologist from Cal State Los Angeles. Then a caravan of cars led by a police vehicle appeared circulating on the street to congratulate him and celebrate him with applause, balloons and messages.
"I wasn't expecting this," said the man in the cap and gown outside the Pasadena Learning Works Charter School, where he works as an educator.
The story is remarkable in this graduation season because Raúl literally went from prison to graduation.
Zarate was sentenced to 16 years for attempted murderor after shooting and injuring two people, during an argument outside a party when he was 17 years old.
While in prison, Raúl gave a complete turn to his life thanks to the study: He earned his high school diploma, four technical degrees, and was also certified as a Braille translator. In 2017, then-California Governor Jerry Brown commuted his sentence.
"Thanks to my dad and my mom, since I was imprisoned, they never turned their backs on me", Raúl said in the interview with Telemundo 52.
"It is something that I did not expect, and I know that he is also proud," said Ruben Zárate, his father, in a broken voice, for Telemundo.
“He is a success story and he gives back to school, as a model, as a mentor, as a coach, so we couldn't be more proud of him ”, Mikala Rahn, founder of the Learning Works Charter school, told ABC7.
From convicted felon to college graduate: Friends celebrate SoCal man who turned his life around after prison and now helps at-risk youth in Pasadena https: //t.co/pwqa2sRg2Y
– ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ ABC7) May 16, 2020
Now Raúl says that going in search of a second job and his master's degree. His example is important and his message very clear:
"If Raúl can do it, where he comes from, I can also do it."
