Hard-Working Oakland Teen On Path Toward College While Providing For His Family

(KPIX 5) -- On Saturday mornings while most teenagers are sleeping in, Anthony Cornejo, is busy working at a small computer repair shop in Oakland.  He also works Sundays at a flea market because his family needs the money. For Anthony, family is everything.

"My mom and sister, they're my life," he says. "Without them, I have nobody."

He's worked painting, construction and other manual labor jobs, especially during the summer.  "From the time that I've known him in 9th grade he was working to provide for his family," said his teacher, Natalia Sanchez-Gonzales. "He's definitely a breadwinner."

STUDENTS RISING ABOVE: Meet Our Students • Donate & Get Involved

Anthony's father was never really in the picture. He got his work ethic from his mother, a single parent who has struggled to raise her two children. "When I was little, my mom, she would work from three in the morning until, like, eight at night to provide for us," said Anthony.

While his mother worked, Anthony would be in charge of caring for his younger sister - so much so, that he thinks of her as his daughter. "For her I will do anything to see her better (off) than me," he said. On the day we visited, they were working on their homework together.

Their financial problems grew after his mother injured her leg and it became difficult for her to work for any length of time. She's been unemployed for three years. They get welfare, which pays for a tiny apartment in East Oakland but there is never enough money.  "If I don't work most of the time, the shortages will be, like, maybe we don't have enough to eat at the end of the month," said Anthony.

"My money .. sometimes it gets used for, like, if my sister needs anything at school or if I need anything in school like a book." Luckily, his sister's school sometimes gives out food to families but that is not always available.

Sanchez-Gonzales, who teaches at Envision Academy in Oakland, understands the problems of students like Anthony who have big responsibilities.  "He goes home and has to take care of his sister, has to worry about whether they have enough money for rent," said Sanchez-Gonzales. "The difficulty for low-income students is that there's an immediate need and there's a long term sort of need. The immediate need is, do I have somewhere to live, do I have food on my table."

It means that education often has to take a back seat.

Anthony didn't really think about college at first because of his responsibilities at home. But at school he began to see the larger picture.

Envision Academy is a small college prep charter school where students like him are encouraged to think about what an education truly means. It has helped Anthony think of the long term consequences:  "I need to go to college because if I just stay here and always just work and work then I'm never going to get anywhere in life," he said.

He has no computer at home, so he has to make arrangements to do his work on the computers at school.

Sanchez-Gonzales said he still manages to do well in school. "Regardless of not having access to a computer or not having Internet at home or moving around a lot or whatever … he was perhaps one of the main students that was always meeting the deadlines ahead of time."

But Anthony's biggest concern is his sister, who has been diagnosed with epilepsy.  His worries doubled after the diagnosis.

So traumatic was her first seizure, it's hard for Anthony to even talk about. "My sister made this noise. I don't know what it was. I never heard anybody make a noise like that," he remembered. Anthony was the one who called 911. When they were in the ambulance he tried to talk with her. "She didn't know where she was," he said. The worst part? "She didn't know who I was."

Now, he watches out for her and worries about her like a father. "Maybe the hardest thing is always to remind her to take her medication because she's always at risk of an epileptic attack," he said.

Anthony carries all this weight with no anger. "If I feel anger, then I'm always going to be angry in life and nothing is going to get accomplished," said Anthony. "Instead, I take it as, I'm in the situation but I'm not going to cry about it. I'm going to do something to change it and make it better for me and my family."

Anthony knows if he goes to college, his sister will know she can go, too. Armed with a college degree, Anthony said he will be in a better position to help his family.