San Diego State University doctoral student Raul Enciso has long understood the odds are stacked against him.
He attended an underserved high school with a graduation rate below 50%. He knows only about 1% of Latinos go on to earn a doctorate. And among former foster youth like him? A tiny fraction of a percent.
“If you look at my history, everything will tell you that I should not be where I am right now — but I’m here,” Enciso said. “I believe everybody is good enough, but not everybody has been given the rightful tools to succeed. I’ve defied the odds for many different reasons, but it’s mainly because somebody gave me a chance.”
As he navigates his final semester as a doctoral student in SDSU’s Ed.D. in Community College Leadership (CCLEAD) program, Enciso is working to give others facing long odds their chance to shine.
In October, he was hired as director of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California. In the role, he oversees multiple programs to support the success of students challenged by language, social, economic and educational barriers — including former foster youth like himself.
It’s a heavy responsibility for Enciso, still only 32. But he’s undaunted. In fact, he’s energized.
“Being a first-generation, low-income student of color, I see myself in all the students that we serve,” he said. “Education really changed my life for the better.”
School as refuge
Growing up in the foster care system in East Los Angeles, Enciso always considered school his safe space: his refuge from whatever chaos was going on at home or whatever dangers lurked on the streets. He took odd jobs at his school to stay on campus as long as he could, including serving as a part-time janitor. “I would clean the toilets at my local high school or a middle school because I didn’t want to go home, you know?” he recalled. “I didn’t want to see the stark realities and be reminded of the unfortunate life I was living.”
During his junior year, he found another outlet: taking courses at nearby East Los Angeles College. It started with a course on hip-hop dance, then photography, then human sexuality.
The taste of higher education whetted his appetite for more, and he was accepted into the University of California San Diego after graduation. Yet coming from a high school that did little to prepare him academically, the transition to one of the nation’s top universities was a struggle.
One quarter, while coping with the incarceration of two close family members, Enciso’s grades plunged and became subject to disqualification. That’s when a bit of grace from an administrator changed his trajectory.
“Instead of kicking me out, the dean said. ‘I’m gonna give you a second chance. All you’ve got to do is pass (next quarter) with above a 2.0 and you’re good to go,” Enciso recalled. “I was like, ‘Hey, someone believes in me. Somebody thinks that I can do it, so I’m gonna do it.’”
True to his word, Enciso persisted, boosted his grades and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2016. Two years later, he added a master’s in leadership studies from the University of San Diego.
Enciso began his career in the nonprofit sector, handling case management for organizations serving foster youth. That led to jobs working with that population at multiple colleges. But along the way, he started to wonder how he could broaden his impact.
“For the longest time, I always put my foster youth identity to the forefront of everything, because it was such a strong place in my heart,” Enciso said. “But, there’s more to me than just being a former foster youth. I didn’t just want to stick to this niche population, I want to be able to support way more youth.”
Leading by example
While working as a program specialist at Cuyamaca College, Enciso discovered a pathway to advancing his career. The CCLEAD program at SDSU, which has produced more than a half dozen community college presidents and scores more high-ranking leaders.
It certainly helped that the school’s former president Julianna Barnes (now chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District), current president Jessica Robinson and Dean of Counseling Agustin Orozco were all graduates of the program. He consulted with Orozco and Robinson, who strongly encouraged him to apply.
He’s glad he did. Since enrolling in the CCLEAD program he has been hired to two full-time positions, the first overseeing foster youth programs at Santa Monica College and then Golden West — his long awaited chance to broaden his impact to underserved students.
And his dissertation connects to his new role. Enciso is undertaking a qualitative study of how Latinx men enrolled in community college EOPS programs perceive and access public services. He’s being mentored by Associate Professor Marissa Vasquez, an expert on facilitating community college transfer success.
“She’s been very supportive,” he said. “She’s invested in me and helps me believe in myself when I don’t have faith to do so.”
And when he’s hooded in May, Enciso hopes the accomplishment will give others facing long odds the faith to achieve their dreams.
“I want to be able to lead by example and prove to my community that you can do it as well,” he said. “I want to inspire others to find that spark — to attain something that people cannot take away from you.
“It’s for them.”
