San Diego City College helped save Karin Angel.

The victim of an abusive relationship who for more than a year lived in her car when not sleeping on a couch at her grandmother’s apartment and who spent more than a few nights in jail on assault-related charges, Angel found support and purpose at City, graduated with honors in earning an associate degree in sociology, and earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of San Diego. Now she’s hoping to return to City as a counselor guiding future students overcoming their own challenges.

“I’m blessed to be at a campus like USD, but still, it’s not like City,” she said. “I don’t think anywhere is like City. That’s my home.”

City College became Angel’s home the moment she returned to school after a years-long break. When sociology professor Jessica White learned during the first day of class that Angel had just gotten out of jail, she asked her to stay after class, encouraged her to call 211 – a nonprofit, regional source for information and connections to community, health, and disaster support – and has been mentoring her ever since – including at USD, where White also teaches sociology.

“I would not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for her,” said Angel, who also benefitted from programs such as City Scholars, which assists justice-impacted students transition to City; the tuition-free San Diego Promise program; Disability Support Programs and Services (DSPS); Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS); and Yo Soy STEM, a culturally-affirming pathway for Latina/o/x students to succeed in math, engineering, and the sciences.

A pivotal experience for Angel was a Yo Soy STEM internship teaching a STEM summer camp at Emerson Elementary School in the southeastern San Diego neighborhood of Southcrest that inspired her to consider a  career as an educator. “It was amazing to see Black and Latinx kids enter the camp thinking science is boring and leave believing that they could become scientists,” said Angel, who served as captain of City’s women’s soccer team and has inspired numerous friends and acquaintances to transform their lives by enrolling at City College.

Angel sometimes reflects on how far she’s come. A first-generation college student whose Salvadoran mom and Guatemalan father split up when she was young, she grew up in City Heights and tested out of high school at age 16, largely indifferent to academics. Not long after her mother moved to Texas, Angel became homeless, alternating nights between her used Nissan Altima and her grandmother’s couch. Planning for the future felt like an afterthought – until she returned to City, connected with counselors, and enrolled in Professor White’s sociology class.

Still, transferring to a four-year college seemed out of reach. Transfer Center Coordinator Dr. Erin Charlens convinced her otherwise, explaining that Angel’s resilience, community involvement, and academic record made her an excellent candidate for USD’s Constance Carroll Trailblazer Scholarship Award. Named in honor of the San Diego Community College District’s longest-serving and perhaps most impactful chancellor, Dr. Constance M. Carroll, the scholarship recognizes up to 10 academic standouts from City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges whose pioneering work and commitment to social justice set them apart.

She enrolled at USD this fall, returning to the campus where her mother for more than a decade was employed as a maintenance worker.

“I really give a lot of credit to God,” said Angel. “He’s opened so many doors for me. It was just up to me to walk through them. City showed me how to do that.”