The College Dream Nearly Slipped Away

At one time or another, we’ve all felt the rage and frustration of the “spinning wheel of death” – a frozen computer screen on a website that won’t load or refresh no matter how hard you bang on the keyboard.

But in 2024, when the FAFSA system – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the gateway to college financial aid – broke down, that everyday annoyance became a national crisis, shutting millions of low-income and immigrant families out of four-year college opportunities.

As college entry deadlines loomed, many Watsonville-area high school students were left feeling helpless as their childhood dreams of a future beyond the fields were shattered. Years of hard work, studying and sacrifice were derailed – all because of a faulty federal government computer system.

Covid had inflicted its own special brand of pain and havoc on these students years earlier. Then the winter storms of 2023 flooded these same kids’ neighborhoods and upended livelihoods. Although Santa Cruz County was included in a federal disaster declaration following the storms, access to aid was uneven, and many Watsonville families – particularly undocumented residents or those unable to meet strict eligibility requirements – received little or no financial relief.

Then came the FAFSA mess, which delayed or denied financial aid for millions of students nationwide – hitting first-generation college applicants hardest.

For many students, the message was clear: the four-year college dream would have to wait – or worse, disappear entirely.

And yet, in classrooms after school and quiet weekly meetings a few miles away, another story was unfolding. A story of resilience. About adults who refused to accept “that’s just how it is.” About students learning, often for the first time, that their life stories – including the hardest, most painful parts – were not liabilities, but strengths.

At the center of that story is a new, small non-profit program with an outsized impact: Estrellas Brillantes.

Founded in 2024 by Santa Cruz-based technology executive and educational philanthropist Eric Bohren, Estrellas Brillantes operates in partnership with Pajaro Valley Unified School District and currently works exclusively with students at Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville.

“Historically, the common path for low-income Latino or Hispanic students was community college, trade school or not going at all,” Bohren said. “Our objective is to make the four-year college option real and attainable – when it’s the right fit – without creating financial hardship for families.”

A Local Response To A National Failure

The FAFSA breakdown, which Bohren describes as “one of the biggest black holes in federal technology,” prevented millions of students from completing applications or receiving aid packages before college decision deadlines. While the system has since stabilized, the damage to the class of 2024 was already done.

Rather than dwell on policy failures, Bohren decided to act locally.

“I didn’t want to just get mad about politics,” he said. “I wanted to do something good for the community.”

Through a connection with Pajaro Valley High School academic counselor Nancy Puente, Bohren launched a pilot cohort of three students. All three ultimately received full-ride offers to four-year universities. This year, the program has grown to eight students – staying small by design, to ensure a high-touch and deeply personalized approach.

Students are eligible for Estrellas Brillantes if they attend Pajaro Valley High School, come from Latino or Hispanic families, have household incomes under $125,000 and have parental support to pursue a four-year college path. Many also apply through QuestBridge, which supports high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds on their path to a top college. QuestBridge’s message to students is: “this is your chance to dream big.”

Seven Days

When Angela Belmontes, 18, first met Bohren, the clock was already ticking on her dream.

The Pajaro Valley High School senior had always imagined going to college – maybe even somewhere prestigious like Santa Clara University. But the path there felt confusing and rushed. Early action. Early decision. Financial aid forms. Essay prompts. Deadlines she wasn’t sure she understood.

Then came the realization: the deadline was less than a week away.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to apply right now,’” Angela said. “I was really behind.”

Her academic counselor, Nancy Puente, knew time was short. She pulled Angela aside with a suggestion: there was a local volunteer working with students one-on-one who might be able to help.

Angela showed up with her mom to meet Bohren at Erik’s Deli Café.

“It was really informal. It felt comfortable,” she said. “He was just asking about me – what I liked, what I wanted to do.” When Bohren heard the urgency around the deadline, he was undaunted. “He was like, ‘OK, we’re going to do this,’” Belmontes recalls.

She then had only days to write the essay that would shape her future.

The Power Of Story

What sets Estrellas Brillantes apart is its singular focus on narrative.

In an era where AI tools can produce polished prose in seconds, Bohren argues that writing quality alone no longer differentiates applicants. What does is lived experience – and the ability to reflect on it with honesty, humility and depth.

“Good writing is now a commodity,” he said. “What’s not a commodity is your story.”

Another student, Diego Rivera-Garcia, who now, thanks to Estrellas Brillantes, is a first-year mechanical engineering major at Santa Clara University, said that philosophy made all the difference for him.

“If it weren’t for Eric, I probably would have kept my first draft,” he said. “Looking back, that essay wasn’t very strong. I 100% think Eric’s advice helped me get in.”

For Angela Belmontes it meant learning to say more than she thought she should.

“He kept telling me, ‘Express yourself more. Go deeper,’” she said.

At first, her essays read like a list of accomplishments. Grades. Activities. Safe answers. But Bohren kept pushing gently.

Her story slowly emerged to include the parts that mattered most: growing up first-generation, navigating personal challenges, exploring culture by cooking with her mom, discovering an interest in immigration and justice that now has her considering law school.

“It wasn’t just listing stuff,” she said. “It was about who I actually am.”

That one-on-one support felt different from anything she’d experienced before.

“I could go to the career center,” she said. “But it’s not the same. They don’t really know you. Eric actually got to know me.”

Bohren builds these relationships by meeting weekly with students, guiding them through an intensive process of self-reflection. He challenges them to identify the experiences – often tragic, traumatic, painful or deeply personal – that have shaped their character, resilience and values.

But he’s quick to emphasize, “This is not about a sob story. It’s about how hardship forged someone who’s going to grow from it and go on to be a strong contributor on campus.”

Rivera-Garcia, whose family faced homelessness, economic uncertainty, food insecurity and other adversity, said he had to learn that lesson firsthand.

“At first it was kind of just, ‘here’s my trauma, but I’m still a good student,'” he said. “That’s not really a story.”

During Thanksgiving break, unable to sleep, he rewrote his entire personal statement in one sitting, comparing himself to a small sprout pushing through cracks in the sidewalk.

“They grow even though people walk over them every day,” he said. “That’s how I felt—growing despite everything.”

Another student Bohren worked with initially offered a vague reference to losing his mother. After multiple rounds of gentle encouragement to dig deeper, the student ultimately shared the full truth: his mother died while attempting to cross the desert back into the U.S. after a family trip to Mexico, leaving him orphaned at a young age. He went on to work in agricultural fields as a child to help support his family.

“He’s a miracle,” Bohren said, visibly emotional recounting the story. “And hopefully he’s going to get a full ride at a four-year university.”

From Quiet To Confident

Beyond acceptance letters, Bohren has seen something else transform the students he works with: confidence.

“These are big risks for kids,” Bohren said. “It’s easier to stay home, keep working weekends to support your family. But once they believe in themselves, they start taking chances.”

He points to Diego Rivera-Garcia as an example. When they first met, Bohren said, Rivera-Garcia was quiet and reserved. Over time, as they worked through essays, applications and scholarships together, Rivera-Garcia began to open up—eventually speaking confidently with younger students about the college process and encouraging them to aim higher. Now, Rivera-Garcia is channeling a lifelong love of math into hands-on work with the school’s Formula SAE team, helping design and build a race car for national competition.

It’s a big step toward the motorsports engineering career he once only imagined. That growth didn’t stop once he got into Santa Clara.

Rivera-Garcia says Bohren still checks in about internships and career paths, offering connections and advice that many first-generation students simply don’t have access to.

“Eric told me, ‘Maybe you don’t have these connections—that’s what I’m here for,'” Rivera-Garcia said. “He’s still helping me figure out next steps.”

A Broader Ecosystem Of Support

Estrellas Brillantes does not operate in isolation. Many students also participate in the Watsonville Ivy League Project, an organization that supports underrepresented, high-achieving students interested in visiting and applying for an Ivy League school.

The Ivy League Project serves students from both Pajaro Valley High School and Watsonville High School, emphasizing academic excellence, family involvement and community fundraising. Recent success stories include Watsonville High senior Alondra Rivera-Muñoz, who will attend Brown University at no cost.

Bohren sees Estrellas Brillantes as complementary to The Ivy League Project and QuestBridge.

“We do similar things and are highly collaborative,” he said. “But my passion is the one-on-one work with students—digging deep into narrative.” For Rivera-Garcia, that support also extended to the practical side of paying for college. During his senior year, Bohren regularly sent scholarship opportunities and encouraged him to apply—even when he felt overwhelmed by classes and deadlines.

“I don’t think I would’ve applied to as many scholarships without him,” he said. “He kept finding opportunities I didn’t even know existed.”

Telling Some Good News

For Bohren, the goal is not recognition, but reach.

“I don’t want this to just be about me,” he said. “There are other local resources helping make the dream real.”

At a time when headlines often focus on what’s broken, Estrellas Brillantes offers a reminder of what’s working—quietly, locally and with profound impact.

“Let’s tell some good news for once,” Bohren said. A perfect example of that good news is Angela Belmontes herself.

After working with Bohren, Angela heard back from Santa Clara University with the response she’d been hoping for: Congratulations, you’ve been accepted! Today, she’s a freshman, attending on what she calls a “sizable scholarship”—enough that college finally felt possible for her low-income family.

“If I hadn’t applied when I did, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as much aid,” she said. “My family couldn’t afford it otherwise. I don’t think I’d be here.”

What stays with her most isn’t the paperwork or the deadlines. It’s the fact that someone showed up.

“Eric didn’t have to help me,” she said. “I was rushing everything. A lot of people would’ve said it was too late. But he didn’t leave me alone.” She smiles. “That changed everything.”