As Colorado Academy prepares for the sixteenth summer of the Horizons Program on campus, one of its first students prepares to graduate from college. First-generation college student and four-year Daniels Fund Scholarship recipient Nehemias Luna ’10  looks back at how Horizons helped generate an outpouring of invaluable opportunities and lifelong passions.

 

If not for Horizons at Colorado Academy, Luna says he’s certain his life would have been far different—likely attending a college not nearly the caliber of his future alma mater, with a tall stack of student loans, and far fewer opportunities to boot.

 

“My parents pushed me toward Colorado Academy, knowing that the odds would be more in my favor if I enrolled there,” recalls Luna, who will be graduating—with Latin honors, he presumes—this spring with a bachelor’s degree in finance and a minor in international business from the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

 

Prior to becoming a full-fledged CA student, he studied at Knapp Elementary—a Denver Public School with a large Hispanic population—from pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade. Luna got involved in Horizons beginning in Kindergarten, when he and 12 other children were selected to participate in the summer enrichment program designed for low-income public school students. The transition from Knapp to CA, he admits, was tough at first: “The group of kids went from kids who I could relate to and were just like me to kids who I had nothing in common with. I was pretty shy and scared about it.”

 

Fortunately, there were plenty of caring and dedicated faculty members who were more than happy to guide Luna every step of the way. Once he joined the basketball and soccer teams, he began to form friendships and feel more like an integral part of CA’s student body and a well-rounded individual. A singer in the choir, he benefited from the nurturing mentorship of Vocal Music Director Cindy Jordan, who truly believed in him and saw his full potential. “She made me feel comfortable, gave me confidence, and was—without a doubt—one of the most welcoming people at the school,” Luna says, noting that Jordan has since become a close friend of the family (his sister, Loida, is a member of the Class of 2016).

 

Another steady source of support was found in Upper School history teacher Luis Terrazas. “He was one of the few teachers I felt like I could relate to,” Luna says. “He’s one-quarter Hispanic, which was enough to make my mom feel comfortable. He was a great person to have around.”

 

Through Horizons, Luna quickly began to acquire long-term knowledge and skills while instinctively developing a profound passion for learning—and for helping those less fortunate. Years later, he would go on to secure internships with Google’s Building Opportunities for Leadership and Development (BOLD) Immersion and K-12 Education Outreach teams.

 

“One of the benefits of Horizons was that I didn’t have a break from school,” Luna says. “It kept me on my toes. When I came back to school [in the fall], I hit the ground running and was more prepared to take on the next grade level because of the skills I learned that summer or by not forgetting what I learned.”

 

As soon as he graduated from Horizons, he returned to the program, year after year—just as he had done all the way through eighth grade—to help educate and inspire younger students. Made possible through the Sean Smith Endowment Fund (Smith was a 25-year employee at CA and one of the founding leaders of the Horizons Program), Luna worked as an intern and teaching assistant, aiding in the instruction of math, reading, and writing and furthering the same life-changing experience he had been privileged enough to receive. To this day, he still credits Smith—who served as a teacher, advisor, coach, principal, and dean—with helping him get into CA in the first place.

 

Luna will be the first member of his family to earn a college degree—something he will cherish for the rest of his life. “It’s been incredible and a blessing,” he says. “I’m proud of myself because a lot of people, including myself, didn’t think this was possible. It’s surreal.”

 

A student worker in the Global Engagement Office at Santa Clara University, Luna studied abroad in Barcelona during his junior year. He belongs to the Sigma Chi Fraternity and volunteers at local schools through the Santa Clara Community Action Program, a chartered student organization dedicated to applying activism and justice to address social issues in and around the campus community.

With his undergraduate years coming to an end, Luna just learned that he’s been hired by Texas Instruments and will begin working there in the fall.