This Caruthers High salutatorian and Gates Scholar has plans to go into medicine

Caruthers High School senior Jordan López knows what he wants for his future: go into the medical field.

The 17-years-old López has been part of the UCSF Fresno Doctor’s Academy Program at his high school since his freshmen year.

“It’s an amazing program that’s going to help me towards my aspiration and my goals,” said López, who graduated Friday (June 2) night with a GPA of 3.8.

He was also the salutatorian of Caruthers High Class of 2023.

López, who will attend the University of Oregon in the fall, was recently awarded The Gates Scholarship that will cover the full cost of attendance that is not already covered by other sources of financial aid.

And thanks to Tik Tok, López found out about the Gates scholarship opportunity while searching for scholarships through the social media app. He applied even when he thought he was not going to get it.

López remembers where he was and what he was doing when he got the news that he was a Gates Scholar.

“I screamed. I literally was in tears. It was an unforgettable moment,” he said.

“To me it shows that students here in a rural community with a majority of Mexican immigrants, we too can do something incredible,” López said

Getting the Gates scholarship means so much to López because “with this scholarship, it opened my mind that I can go anywhere.”

He also received a scholarship from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

López, who would like to do something around the surgical field, plans to pursue a double major in neuroscience and music education.

“I would really love to become a neural surgeon,” said López. “I kind of want to do neurosurgery with music education”.

“I am passionate about intricating music within the neuroscience field because there’s so many unknown possibilities within the brain that I’m really passionate about,” López said.

Even though it was his second dream school, López said he picked the University of Oregon after having, “so many amazing colleges and opportunities around the country.”

Out of the 40 universities applications he sent out, 36 universities accepted him. He even got acceptances letters from Ivy League universities like Cornell and Brown, as well as several University of California campuses like UCLA and Stanford.

“But I ultimately ended up choosing University of Oregon because it aligns with my aspirations, my ultimate goal in life and I’ll have a lot of one-on-one with the professors,” López said. “And I also already do have a research opportunity to work with a doctor within the neuroscience field.”

While his parents didn’t go to college, López is not the first one of his siblings to go to college. His older sister, who is 30, went to Fresno State about 12 years ago.

“You know it’s been a struggle, especially with having Mexican immigrant parents, they don’t know the process of the process of how the college application works and you know the financial restrictions and all these things,” said López, a first-generation college student.

His parents, who immigrated from México in their 20s, are agricultural workers.

His dad, a Mixteco from Oaxaca, drives tractors. His mom, who is from Guanajuato, packs almonds at Campos Brothers Farm in Caruthers.

“I’ve lived in the same little run-down trailer home that my parents own,” said López, who was born in Selma and raised in Caruthers.

But something López learned from the Doctors Academy program is that he wants to bring his knowledge back to his community to inspire future generations.

López said he was always scared of going to the doctors when he was little until the time he broke his leg when he was about 10 years old. He saw how passionate the healthcare providers were when taking care of him to get him healthier, that it inspired López to pursue something in the medical field later in life.

“Help others and you know make the difference in the communities, especially within the Latino, Chicano and all these minority areas,” he said. “That really filled my passion.”

At a glance

Caruthers High | June 2, 2023

Graduates: 167

Latino enrollment: 85.4%

Highlight: Salutatorian speaker Jordan López thanked his Mexican immigrant parents in Spanish as part of his speech. Those words were received with applause from those in attendance.

Quote: “Last year we had our first student accepted into Harvard University. We continue the Ivy League tradition this year with our first acceptance into Yale University. Our dreamers are following through and are proving to those schools that Caruthers students have what it takes to be in the Ivy League,” said Barry Watts, principal.