Fall 2010/Winter 2011
As longtime MESA advisors in Los Angeles, Evelyn Torres-Rangel and Domingo Torres-Rangel have hundreds of stories about MESA students who have made an impression on them.
One student lived alone in a small apartment with only a mattress and light bulb. Another’s brother was shot and killed on the street. Both students persevered and graduated from college.
Between the two of them, the Torres-Rangels have more than 50 years of helping thousands of underrepresented students achieve educational success.
They began as MESA advisors during the program’s early years. This year, they were given the MESA dedication award for their years of service.
As products of public schools in East Los Angeles and the first in their families to go to college, the married couple said being MESA advisors seemed like a natural choice.
“We liked the fact that there’s this program where you focus all your energies on an underrepresented group,” Evelyn said. “A lot of those students felt there was nothing out there just for them, so the idea of MESA was really exciting.”
Evelyn was a student teacher when she met Domingo, a full time teacher, in 1977. They were married 11 months later.
“When you know you’re right, you know you’re right,” Domingo said.
The couple became not only advisors but often also surrogate parents for many MESA students. They took the students on field trips to college campuses and company sites, but also held barbecues at their own home and made home visits for students.
“We were raising two little boys of our own at the same time, but these students were so motivated by these experiences,” Domingo said. “There were a lot of firsts for them.”
They began teaching at Wilson High School—Evelyn’s alma mater—in 1980 and taught MESA students for nearly two decades. They started teaching at Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel and began a MESA program there five years ago.
Both say they run into MESA alumni constantly and have received thank you notes from students they taught 20 years ago. Evelyn’s friend requests on Facebook shot through the roof when she joined the social networking site recently.
“It’s very gratifying,” Evelyn said. “We hear from students time and again who say ‘I never considered a job in engineering,’ but after being in MESA they realize there are opportunities out there for them.”
After a quarter of a century, retirement is on the horizon for the couple, but not until they usher through their current crop of MESA students and find a replacement advisor.
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