Ome Garcia, San Jose State psychology sophomore, is one of very few to receive the highest-acclaimed award, California State University Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, this year within the CSU system.
“[Ome] is a wonderful student, really smart, really hard-working,” Interim President Steve Perez said about choosing Garcia as his nominee. “Ome has overcome significant hurdles put in front of them and uses those to inspire themselves to do great work to support others.”
Garcia received the award on Sept. 13. in Long Beach, California.
According to a Sept. 12 blog from SJSU NewsCenter, the annual CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement is the highest accolade given to students who show outstanding performance in academics, personal achievements, community service and demonstrate a commitment to making a positive impact on the world.
Garcia was honored along with 22 other Trustee Award recipients, each from different California State Universities.
The Sept. 13 ceremony occurred at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, where all 23 award recipients received their awards.
Garcia said they found out about the award while looking for scholarships to support themselves.
They said when they started to look more into the award, they realized they were quite qualified.
Garcia reached out to their physics lecturer, William Seneshen, to ask for a letter of recommendation, one of the requirements for applicants.
They said Seneshen gave them a recommendation and encouraged them to apply.
“When I got the news, I was over the moon,” Garcia said. “It feels so good when you make so many sacrifices and you’re so dedicated to something to have it recognized on this big of a scale.”
Garcia said before coming to SJSU, they worked with the youth in Watsonville, California to empower them through arts, especially as a medium for healing.
“As a kid being able to create, being able to write, was really healing for me,” Garcia said. “So that’s why I started to do that with youth in Watsonville.”
After completing their bachelor’s degree in 2024, they plan on going to medical school and completing a residency in psychiatry.
Garcia said they plan on becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist.
Outside of school, Garcia works in crisis intervention and suicide prevention.
“Art is a way of not only healing, but a way of activism and of education around social issues that affect our community,” they said.
Garcia said they worked as a muralist with youth, doing public arts projects, workshops and other forms of advocacy through art.
They said they worked with the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Museum of Art and History, Pajaro Valley Arts and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, which is based in Watsonville.
Garcia is also a member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science at SJSU.
“It feels like I have this huge network of people who are cheering me on every day,” they said. “To have a space that understands my culture, my belief system, my community, it means the world to me.”
Garcia said after completing their medical degree and specialty program, they hope to return to Watsonville to better support the youth.
Ramiro Medrano, high school counselor within the Salinas Union High School District, worked with Garcia at Pajaro Valley High School.
Medrano said the work Garcia does with LGBTQ+ youth is vital in Watsonville.
“For Ome to be out there and be open with LGBT issues being Latina-Chicana, that’s inspirational for me,” Medrano said. “I think for [youth] to meet someone like Ome who embraces their identity . . . is huge.”
Medrano said he believes that Watsonville is in dire need of Latinx mental health professionals that speak Spanish, especially from the LGBTQ+ community.
“I commend Ome for wanting to come back and give back to their community,” Medrano said. “I think Ome would be pivotal and open doors for other mental health counselors to become professionals and serve the community.”
Perez said Garcia’s story is inspirational and he’s glad to see students like them get recognized for their achievements.
“We all have hard days, we all have challenges,” Perez said. “A person that can take those, internalize them and say I don’t want other people to experience this, that's an inspiring thing.”
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This story was update on Oct. 10 because of misidentification.
