Annual Report

Annual Report

2023-2024
GCCCD Annual Report 2023-2024

 2023-24 Annual Report Booklet Cover

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2021-2022

Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen

Studying to become a golf course superintendent
Matthew Allen, 33, enrolled in Cuyamaca in fall 2021 after overcoming some great personal challenges. Allen is today grounded in his church, and holds two jobs. He has saved enough money to buy a car. Pursuing an education is helping to “straighten my life out and make up for lost time,” he said.

Nazick Al Nassar

Nazick Al Nassar

Taking her future into her own hands
Born in Iraq with severe allergies, Nazick Al Nassar’s health challenges hampered her ability to excel in school. Now an El Cajon resident, she decided to take her health and future into her own hands. Al Nassar, 39, is a participant of the Promise program.

Elizabeth Rich

Elizabeth Rich

Shifted careers into the water industry 
After working around the country for 20 years in the zoological industry as an educator and zookeeper, in 2018 Elizabeth Rich moved back to San Diego. For a time, Rich ran her own equestrian education business. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, business dried up. She decided to change careers to something more resilient to economic ups and downs and chose the water operations industry. 

Lorenzo Santoro

Lorenzo Santoro

Building a career around giving back
Lorenzo Santoro began his second year at Grossmont College in the fall of 2022, and he already has a vision for his future – one of giving back to his community. A 19-year old resident of La Mesa, Santoro says he wants to develop a career in real estate, and provide affordable housing for people who have limited resources.

Melissa Upchurch

Melissa Upchurch

Plans to pursue career in medical radiology
For Melissa Upchurch, 36, enrolling at Grossmont College in the summer of 2021 was a kind of homecoming. Two decades earlier, she had attended the college as a 16-year-old Grossmont High School student, taking college-level classes while also completing high school courses. “I had a huge amount of ambition to really put a lot of emphasis into my education … but then I wound up having a baby and could not continue,” said Upchurch, who obtained her high school diploma prior to having her first child when she was 18. 

Sara Yogi

Sara Yogi

Working toward a career in education policymaking
Sara Yogi, 26, and her family emigrated from Nepal to the United States in 1999. The U.S. education system has at times been challenging to navigate. A graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School, Yogi first entered Grossmont College in 2016 but struggled with income and housing uncertainty and stopped her studies there. She returned to Grossmont in 2020 to pursue a career in education. 

2020-2021

Natalia Blake

Caitlyn Bullert

Robert White

Danna Yunis

2019-2020

Kevin Bennett

Johana Ibarra

Brooklyn Lopez

Isaac Phillips