Standing in the Little Theater after an NHS meeting, his eyes gazed over the first few lines of the email, over and over again. The word “Congratulations” did not seem to be registering in his mind.

In no time, senior Michael Vargas was in tears, surrounded by all his friends, jumping and screaming. He had just been accepted into Yale University with a full ride scholarship.

The email he had received in fourth period notified him that his applications to his top colleges had been processed through QuestBridge–a non-profit program that gives high-achieving students scholarship opportunities. He had just been getting word into which universities accepted him so far. Opening that letter meant that any of the schools he applied for could have accepted him.

One of his top choices, Yale University, was the first to respond. After setting up an expectation to not get in, he was shocked to see the words: “Congratulations, you got into Yale.”

Before this, however, the circumstances didn’t seem promising.

“I’d always look at myself and all the things that I’d done and see the kind of people that went to these amazing Ivy League schools,” said Vargas. “And I’d think, ‘They have higher scores or they do more.’ But I really never thought that I would come close to them.”

Those around him would say otherwise.

“Michael Vargas is a great student,” said history teacher Mark Henderson. “He is incredibly hard-working, he is thorough, and he cares a lot about his subject.”

Vargas has gotten multiple 5’s on AP tests and is overall a high achieving student. One of his closest friends, senior Thomas Shields, calls Vargas determined.

“He’s one of those people where even when he’s out with us doing stuff, he always has something else that he’s doing at the same time,” said Shields. “He does a really good job of balancing his personal life and his work.”

With three siblings going off to college proceeding him, the issue of paying for college would be a big one for Vargas’s family.

“They were stressing out the whole year about him going to college,” said step-brother Isaiah Vejar. “But we knew it would be super expensive and the fact that he got in for free is really crazy.”

Coming from a tough background, Vargas decided to take it as a challenge rather than accept it as a defeat.

“I really never thought of us as disadvantaged just because of where my family came from,” Vargas said. “I saw it as something I needed to prove wrong. I didn’t want to be another statistic.”

Finances and negative thoughts didn’t stop him from working hard and attaining his goals. Instead, he has become one of the most accomplished students on campus. Not only is he the starting linebacker for the football team, but he is a leader in National Honor Society and a full IB diploma candidate. These positions didn’t come easily.

A staple for Vargas is definitely hard work. At the beginning of his high school football career, he was pushed by his coaches to commit to hard work and not make excuses. He wasn’t quite big enough to play linebacker, but through ambition and determination he now plays that starting position. 

Vargas relates his experiences to climbing a mountain.

“It’s like when you’re standing at the bottom of the mountain, but as you get closer [to the peak], it’s like every peak seems like it will be the peak,” said Vargas. “But the closer you get to it, the smaller it looks.” Getting into Yale, however, was the peak: the product of his unrelenting diligence. He didn’t allow discouragement get to him and kept pushing forward.

He held on to these words of his coach: “There are two types of people in the world: those who make excuses and those who find a way.”

Vargas became one of those that, despite the circumstances, found a way.