Cristopher Mora Rubio

My name is Cristopher Mora Rubio, I am a Park City Alumni from the graduating class of 2019 and a Westminster Alumni from the graduating class of 2023. Both of these achievements were thanks to the dedication and tenacity I had towards completing my academic goals. However, no man is an island. I had an entire village backing me up; my parents, close friends, teachers, and mentors who I met along the way due to my involvement in my community. All of these people impacted my life in different ways but they all led me to achieving the academic excellence that I was chasing. As a first generation college student it is easy to isolate yourself and create the narrative that you are the only one embarking on your journey. I was fortunate enough to have had people intervene early in my life and let me know that there are people eager to help achieve everything I set my mind to as long as I did my part as a student. It was hard to believe but the more I progressed along my academic path more people began to take notice and wanted help. It is hard to trust others at the beginning, but eventually I learned that the help did not come from nowhere. My Park City community had seen me grow throughout the years, from 4th grade until high school graduation. None of these people impacted me more than Tommy Tanzer, and his “Back to our Roots” charity. He was there for me from the time I was 9 years and still is always there to help.  I am gave my all to my community and I got all the support I needed in return. Now as a college graduate I am searching for more and while I am not sure what it is or how I’m going to get there, I am excited to some day return to my community and be a resource to the next wave of kids who are chasing their dreams.