Long-time USC fan now first in his family to attend college

Richard Garcia’s earliest memories of USC were attending football games with his father. At five years old, he would ride on his dad’s shoulders as they made their way across campus to the football stadium. Because of those experiences, USC held a special place in Garcia’s heart.

“When I envisioned a college in my mind, I always saw USC,” he said. “This campus just feels correct.”

Now, Garcia calls USC home. He moved into the Arts and Humanities Residential College at Parkside on the University Park campus last week.

The move marks a special moment for Garcia, who will study chemistry: He is the first in his family to attend college. It’s an honor he’s excited to share with his family, who helped him move into his dorm room.

“I know I did my part with academics, community service and extracurricular activities, but my parents worked so hard to give me this opportunity,” he said. “It’s such an amazing thing to be here, and I’m so glad they get to be part of it with me.”

Committed to family and education

(Left to right) Freshman Richard Garcia, his mom Yolanda, his sister Laura, and his father Richard snap a celebratory selfie at the end of Move-in Day 2016. Photos courtesy of Yolanda Garcia.

Garcia grew up in West Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica High School, where he took honors and advanced placement courses, played on the varsity golf team and sang in the choir. He also participated in the program Circle of Friends, which builds a community of inclusion at the school for students with disabilities. He served as co-treasurer and then as president during his senior year. The experience was important to Garcia, whose younger sister Laura was diagnosed with autism as a toddler.

Garcia’s mother, Yolanda, said her son has “always been very, very committed to his academics.”

Her own mother, who is from Mexico, did not complete elementary school but instilled the importance of education in her. After high school, Yolanda, who now works as a business manager at two Los Angeles–area churches, began attending community college, but responsibilities required that she work. Garcia’s father, Richard, also found that work took precedence over education. He served in the Marine Corps after high school, and has now worked as union carpenter for the past two and a half decades. His own family was from Cuba. His parents had a strong work ethic, but education wasn’t their first priority, he said.

“The only thing I knew growing up was, ‘Well, you’re old enough to work, how are you going to help?’” he explained.

A warm Trojan welcome

Richard Garcia and his father on the field in 2005 at one of the many USC football games they attended together.

The Garcias attended a special program at USC on Aug. 17 to welcome first-generation college students and their families to the Trojan Family. “The First in the Family Reception,” hosted by the First-Generation College Student Task Force at USC, provided attendees with information and resources to help make their transition to college life easier.

Both of Garcia’s parents saw the experience as helpful, and reinforced their connection to the Trojan Family. “When they say the ‘Trojan Family’ it’s no joke,” Yolanda said.

Richard Garcia described dropping off his son at college as “the most exciting, happiest day of my life next to my children being born.”

“Ever since my wife was pregnant, I knew my kids needed to go to college because I didn’t go,” he said. “I know my son is going to have a great life because of all of the hard work that he put in and the sacrifices we made for him.”

Chemistry as catalyst

Garcia is looking forward to studying chemistry, a subject he fell in love with in high school. He took honors chemistry during his sophomore year and AP chemistry during his junior year.

Richard Garcia and his father pose with Tommy Trojan at the 2016 Admitted Student Reception.

“The rigor of it was perfect for me,” Garcia recalled. “Chemistry was the most engaging subject for me, with all of the lab work and calculations.” He especially loved the process of titration, a laboratory method used to determine the concentration of components in a chemical.

“You have this big Erlenmeyer flask that’s filled with a certain compound and you’re trying to figure out how basic or acidic this compound is by adding in another compound. You have to add it in drop by drop. It’s a very painstaking process.

“The meticulousness of that task, it was just so exciting to me,” he said.

Garcia plans to use his time at USC Dornsife to explore his career options. He hopes to participate in research projects with faculty as well as an internship. This semester he’s looking forward to two classes in particular:“Sociology of Health and the Body” (SOCI 225) and “Issues in Aesthetics” (WRIT 150).

He said a liberal arts education will give him an opportunity to gain a multifaceted perspective on the world.

“I truly want to understand people and the world around me in order to make an impact,” he said.

Meanwhile, Richard’s family is rooting for him. Yolanda said that although she will miss Richard, she’s excited for her son. 

“I saw a lot of parents that were sad and anxious,” she said of Move-in Day. “For me as his mom, it wasn’t a sad moment. This morning when I woke up and looked at his empty bed, I thought, ‘Wow, what a great feeling.’ And I did a fist pump. I felt like I did it, I helped get him where he needed to be.”