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Rubi Aguilar Award Rubi Aguilar is one of the first graduates of the Step-Up Program. Rubi came to the United States with her mother and three siblings from Mexico at the age of seven. Ever since the age of twelve, Rubi understood the import The Rubi Aguilar Award is given to students who despite overwhelming odds have worked hard to obtain admittance into higher education. Recipients of the Rubi Aguilar Award Yahira Martinez
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ance of a higher education and strived for the best academically, she even graduated in the top five percent of her class. After graduating from the Step-Up Program Rubi became even more excited about going to college and began researching what colleges she was going to apply to. During her search, she discovered she could not go to college because she did not have a social security number and if she did go she would have to pay out of state tuition. Devastated, Rubi did not give up on her dream of going to college and began working below minimum wage jobs to raise money to pay for her admission fees to a university. Months before graduating from high school Rubi was notified that she was accepted on merit to San Diego State University. However, Rubi did not stop there, she began speaking to politicians and writing them letters about the injustices against people like herself who did not come by choice to this country yet still wanted an education. In 2001, the governor of California gave thousands of others in similar circumstances as Rubi the status of Californians and the opportunity to go to college.