His parents wanted him to have the educational opportunity they never had access to – especially in Mexico. With the high standard his parents set for him and his three siblings, Miguel Cervantes knew that hard work was the key to success.

“My dad, I think he finished elementary school, and my mom too, but they didn’t go on to junior high or high school. They knew the way to more opportunities was an education and they knew in Mexico it was going to be really hard,” he said.

As a Sacramento State government major and newly elected Associated Students Inc. president for the 2008- 09 year, 21-year-old Cervantes not only sought to represent the campus community through student-body government, but also as chair for the Legislative Affairs Committee for the California State Student Association.

The California State Student Association is a statewide student government organization with two representatives from each California State University campus who serve on the board of directors.

Susana Gonzalez, executive director for the association, said Cervantes’ responsibility is to track legislation that impacts the CSU campuses, provide tools the association requires and interact with members of the State Legislature on behalf of 450,000 students. Cervantes’ largest projects were working to increase voter registration and oppose the 10 percent proposed cuts to higher education.

“I really like the way he chairs meetings because he makes sure that everyone gives input and he does it in a way where it doesn’t put people on the spot,” Gonzalez said. “He does it in a very inclusive or comfortable way and I think that’s a skill that leaders need to have.”

Cervantes said his passion for politics developed at a young age in his hometown of Tamazula in Jalisco, Mexico. As a child, Cervantes said he remembers being intrigued by the presidential elections and going to the voting booths with his father.

After graduation, he hopes to attend law school or get a master’s degree in public policy and administration. One of his main goals is to provide representation and educational opportunities to under-served and under-represented communities.

Cervantes’ family immigrated to the United States in 1998 when he was 11 years old and provided him the opportunity to go to college.

Cervantes said his 22-year-old sister, Adriana Cervantes, broke the ground in being the first generation to go to college at Sac State and guided him through the college process. She helped him apply to colleges and showed him resources to help him achieve a college degree.

She said he is passionate about education because of their parents and experiences of their older brothers. Their two older brothers went to college in Mexico but couldn’t further pursue their education in the United States because they had to work to support the family. They told Cervantes and his sister, “We’re doing this for you.”

“I think that’s what influenced Miguel to move on and to make my parents proud and at the same time achieve his dream of becoming somebody in life one day,” Cervantes’ sister said.

Cervantes became involved in the College Assistance Migrant Program during his first year at Sac State. He said the program provided a supportive environment for first-generation college students, especially through tutoring that helped him further his skills in speaking and writing English.

He became an intern through the program at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a lobbying firm where he learned about the lobbying process and how a bill becomes a law. He received calls from farm workers who were forced to spray pesticides without wearing masks and who received sexual comments from bosses, and often referred them to legal firms.

Cervantes said he felt like his “arms were tied” in this job because he couldn’t call the employers and tell them to stop discriminating against their workers. He said the workers were taken advantage of because of their situation and that fueled his desire to become involved in the community.

“If I can translate or if I can give someone a ride or stand up for something that I feel is wrong, then I’m going to do it. That’s what kind of fuels me to help out other people,” he said. “So aside from getting a law degree or getting my master’s and moving on to my job somewhere, ideally it’s something that has to do with it but I really want to give community involvement.”

Alfredo Cadenas, junior communication studies major at Sac State, said Cervantes has become a brother to him since they met through the Campus Assistance Migrant Program. Cadenas said they bonded over growing up close to the same places in Mexico and because ‘Cervantes’ is Cadenas’ mother’s last name. Cadenas said the two last names are used in Mexico and as a result, they called one another cousins.

Despite Cervantes’ one-year involvement in the program, Cadenas said Cervantes helped in the office and counseled other students. He said this involvement showed the passion Cervantes had for helping others.

“Some people, they forget to come back and help the community. They get the help and they kind of run away or take advantage. They don’t care about other people,” Cadenas said.

He said family and respecting elders are important morals and ideals to the Mexican culture that he feels Cervantes believes in. Cadenas said Cervantes looks for ways to help his family.

Cervantes’ sister called Cervantes the “best brother of all” because they have the closest relationship and are not only siblings, but also friends. She enjoys his friendly, funny and outgoing personality and said they like to spend time together by going to the park, playing basketball, grabbing a cup of coffee or going to the movies.

Cervantes, his sister and Cadenas hosted a radio show for KSSU, Sac State’s student-run radio station, called “The Cervantes Show” during the summer and fall semester of 2007. The show was spoken in Spanish and they played a mix of Spanish, Latin, English, Salsa and Merengue music.

Cervantes’ sister said they decided to put the show together because “we wanted to experience a little bit of everything” and “we wanted to live the college experience.”

Cervantes will take the position of ASI president at the transition event on June 5. Cadenas said Cervantes is one of the most trustworthy people he knows and will do things to benefit the people while in the position of ASI president.

Cervantes ran under the Action slate in the ASI elections in support of the platforms to promote unity, celebrate diversity and provide student services. During an interview on April 10 about his campaign platform, Cervantes said he also wants to increase student participation in programs and services, protect accessibility to and affordability of higher education and continue to fight the proposed budget cuts.

ASI President Christina Romero met Cervantes during her sophomore year in 2005-06 and became close when they became representatives for the California State Student Association. Romero said they traveled to different campuses and attended a United States Student Association conference.

Romero said they decided to run together last spring for the positions of president and executive vice president because they “developed the same philosophy in campus politics.” This included opposition to fee increases, focusing on statewide issues and increasing accessibility to the campus.

During Cervantes’ ASI involvement, Romero said some of his major accomplishments included being one of the main organizers for the March for Higher Education and serving on the California State Student Association.

She considers Cervantes one of her best friends and said he is always able to mend their relationship when they are having a tiff. On a trip to Washington D.C., they had a disagreement caused by the pressure of traveling and Romero laughed as she remembers walking ahead of Cervantes to their car.

Cervantes got stuck at a red light for the pedestrian crossing because of traffic. Romero remembered how they stared at each other across the street for five minutes but both started “cracking up because it was so ridiculous.” After working with him, Romero said he brings this personality into the work environment.

“He can make you laugh even when you’re not happy because he’s that good of a person. I just really enjoyed working with him because he always can make difficult and hard tasks fun and lighthearted and still get the work done and be serious,” Romero said.

Ashley Downton can be reached [email protected].