Class of 2020

Miguel Calvillo, 23, spent his childhood in the orchard town of Sunnyside, Washington, where drive-by shootings were a monthly occurrence. In middle school, Calvillo’s neighborhood friend heard shots and came home to bullet holes in his bed. Miguel is the first in his family of Mexican immigrants to attend college, and June 13 he will be the first to graduate, earning his B.S. in electrical engineering from Eastern Washington University.

With help from friends and mentors at North Idaho College, Nicolas Espinoza went from feeling like an outcast to a student leader and graduate.

Recent Spokane Community College graduate Douglas Carney grew up in a motorcycle gang, where violence, drugs and criminality surrounded him. Now he hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree.

After traveling to the Balkans and witnessing a man dying on the sidewalk, Kevin Robinson shifted his focus to fighting global climate change, and his journey has only just begun after graduating from Spokane Falls Community College. Even before taking on the position as student body President, his peer said Robinson has been a leader on campus, spearheading the effort to establish the Environmental Club.

To Holly Terrill, it’s kind of funny to think that three months ago, she was spending nights out with friends at Buffalo Wild Wings.

“I come from a very collectivist culture where we all get through things together, we work together, I serve my community,” said Nadia Sarfraz, who recently graduated from Whitworth University. “My entire life, I was raised around the idea of service.”

Hunter Dryden is graduating with the Deer Park High School class of 2020

Trinity Montoya is graduating with Dishman Hills High School’s class of 2020

Savannah Brown is graduating with the East Valley Parent Partnership class of 2020.