Elizabeth Esteban Earns Full-Ride to Harvard University

COACHELLA — A Coachella Valley Unified School District student, who is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, defied the odds after being accepted into one of the most esteemed universities in the country.

Elizabeth Esteban has accomplished a dream that many young Latinos aspire to achieve: getting a full-ride scholarship to Harvard University. She is also valedictorian at Desert Mirage High School.

“No one in this community has been able to accomplish this and I feel very proud and very thankful and very happy because no one here thinks someone from here…can accomplish something like this,” she shared during a media interview.

Esteban’s parents are indigenous people of Purepecha descent from Michoacán, Mexico and they work in the agriculture fields. Because of her family background and status, Esteban also qualified for the Migrant Education program.

She took full advantage of the resources and programs offered to her both at the school district and through the Riverside County Office of Education Migrant Education program. In 2019, she participated in speech and debate, and the Washington, D.C. Up-Close trip. In 2020, she was accepted to the Summer Migrant Career Academy Partnership Program but was not able to work because of the pandemic. The program offered a virtual speaker series, and Elizabeth attended faithfully.

Esteban says the fear of being a low-income Latina almost caused her to not apply to the prestigious university. According to Harvard’s most recent data, 40% of students accepted are white and only 5% are Latinos.

“Well, at first, I was not going to apply to Harvard because I didn’t feel like my accomplishments earned me the right to attend such a prestigious university,” she said.

Esteban said, “I’m part of an indigenous group that feels that women should stay at home and be the stereotypical stay at home mother, later on in the future. I just wanted to break those barriers.”

She is setting her sights high from being the guest of a congressional representative in Washington D.C. to maybe one day running for congress herself.

“I have no doubt Elizabeth will accomplish whatever she puts her mind to,” commented Dr. Edwin Gomez, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. “She is a remarkable young woman who has maximized the great education that she has received from our schools and programs to achieve success.”