How a smog check put San Jose teen on a path to Yale
The recent college admissions scandal has left people rightfully angry at the system, but Anh Dang’s story should bring back some smiles.
The 17-year-old senior at Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School plans to attend Yale University in the fall. And she didn’t get there because of faked athletic records, phony SAT scores or bribes. Her road to New Haven, Conn., actually started with a smog check.
Four years ago, the Rev. Peter Pabst — Cristo Rey’s chancellor — took his car for the bi-annual test to Tony Dang‘s shop on 28th Street in San Jose, near the school on the grounds of Five Wounds National Portuguese Church. While waiting for the results, the two got to talking about the school, and Dang wondered if Cristo Rey — aimed at students from low-income families with the drive to attend college — would be a good fit for his daughter, Anh.
Years earlier, she had attended Five Wounds Elementary School at the same site but had to leave because her parents couldn’t afford the price tag of a private education. But Cristo Rey’s model — combining scholarships and work-study — made it affordable.
“My parents encouraged me to attend Cristo Rey partly because I seemed lost. College was an enigma, my future was uncertain and my confidence was undermined by my own fear,” Anh said. “I quickly recognized the value of learning. I’m truly a testament to why parents say ‘you’ll thank us later.’ ”
Her parents were right, as she flourished at the school. After taking a summer theater class, Anh launched an open mic night during her sophomore year. She also developed a school literary magazine and an arts showcase evening the following year. For her work-study component, she shared one full-time position with three other students at Juniper Networks in Sunnyvale, one of more than 100 companies and organizations that partner with Cristo Rey. That’s where she was in December when she learned she had received early acceptance — and a full ride — to Yale.
Her co-workers, who anxiously watched the acceptance video with her, threw an impromptu celebration in her honor.
Anh’s accomplishments also were celebrated last week at the school’s Rey of Hope fundraiser, which was attended by more than 350 heavy hitters, including business leaders and others who support the school through either donations or by hosting work-study students. The guests in attendance — including venture capitalist B.J. Cassin, retired PricewaterhouseCoopers Chairman Nick Moore, Sue and John A. Sobrato, Marilyn and Frank Dorsa, Phil DiNapoli, and Nan and Chuck Geschke — plus others watching a live-stream of the event donated more than $186,000 for scholarships. (Donations are still being accepted at www.cristoreysanjose.org.)
“Cristo Rey is a kind of island of hope in East San Jose here,” said Cassin, who co-chairs the school’s board of directors with John Sobrato. And that island will be sending its second graduating class of 105 students off to new adventures on June 8.
OLD NEWS SELLS WELL: You can’t say that people don’t appreciate holding history in their hands, even in Silicon Valley. The Preservation Action Council ended up selling about 95 percent of the 600 volumes of the San Jose Mercury and Herald available at its History Book sale in Naglee Park on Saturday, bringing in $7,600 for the nonprofit group that works to save and document the city’s historic structures.
The November 1933 volume, containing news of the lynching and hanging of two suspects in the kidnapping of department store scion Brooke Hart, wound up selling in a live auction for $1,280. That’s not bad for 85-year-old news.