Many things changed for Jeronimo when he immigrated as an unaccompanied minor to San Francisco from Guerrero, Mexico. As a senior in high school, Jeronimo was balancing school, college applications, a part-time pizza delivery job and an internship, all without the help of a traditional family support system.

Jeronimo dreamed of becoming a civil engineer, but it was difficult just getting by in the Bay Area with its high cost of living and challenging affordable housing market.

Jeronimo learned about One Degree at school and used the platform to find and use free SAT classes, scholarships, and other programs that helped him build a path to college.

Thanks in part to the support he got through One Degree, Jeronimo graduated from high school and started attending San Jose State University. He is able to live on campus and completely focus on his studies because of the scholarships he discovered on One Degree.

Jeronimo has since become a One Degree evangelist, helping classmates access everything from affordable housing to immigration services – all through One Degree. He had become a kind of “go-to” guy for new immigrants among his fellow students, friends and other community members. They often reach out to ask for help finding housing contacts, job leads or advice in general.

When a good family friend arrived from Guerrero, he asked Jeronimo for help finding a job. Jeronimo immediately pulled out his phone and made a quick search for job search programs on One Degree. Thanks to the leads he found through the site, his friend secured a job within just one week.

“It felt so good to be able to help my friend,” said Jeronimo. “He was super thankful. I was very busy dealing with finals at school and scholarship interviews, at the time, so I would not have been able to help him if it wasn’t for One Degree.”