big careers start at Eastern By David Rey
You meet them everywhere – Eastern graduates. They’re your neighbor, your city planner, your physical therapist, your accountant, your child’s coach. They’ve utilized the quality education and opportunities they’ve received at EWU and are succeeding in a wide variety of careers. Otto Guardado admits that he probably wasn’t a “most likely to succeed” kind of person coming out of high school. His first two years at Eastern were a bit rocky, but with some time away from school to reflect, and some timely intervention from the faculty in the university’s Chicano Studies program, he came into his own. “I was a late bloomer,” Guardado said. Once he started to bloom, the 1995 EWU grad started giving off the sweet smell of success. Named to the “Accomplished 40 & Under” list by the Vancouver Business Journal last year, Guardado has turned hard work and a desire to help people into a very successful career as a financial advisor for Ameriprise Financial Services. One of the key reasons he was selected for the “40 & Under” honor was his commitment to his alma mater. He’s been instrumental in establishing an EWU alumni group in the Portland, Ore., area, but it’s the commitment he made to helping Chicano students finance their education at Eastern that really sets him apart. The scholarship he established reflects his own personal experience of growing up in the Tri-Cities, in Kennewick, Wash., in a family who didn’t have large financial means. “I probably wasn’t the most studious or ideal candidate for college when I was in high school – I didn’t have great grades and I didn’t really study,” Guardado said. “I applied to college almost as an afterthought.” Things didn’t go all that well after he arrived at Eastern, as
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Otto Guardado
You could take 100 kids – could they become doctors or something like that? I think every one of them could do it – if they learn to put in the hard work and dedication – it’s not closed off to them.
his poor study habits and the freedom of being away from home for the first time nearly conspired to end his college experience prematurely. “I was really unfocused and that freedom went to my head,” he said. His academic performance at Eastern was so poor that he teetered on the edge of being kicked out of school for bad grades. He also had financial issues that eventually forced him to take time off from school. That time off, and the realization he was squandering his opportunity, reshaped his approach to things and he looked to return to school. When the poor grades made it iffy whether he would get a second chance, the late Carlos Maldonado, then director of the Chicano Studies program, helped him get back on track. “The people in the program went to bat for me,” Guardado said. “My education, and the faith they had in me, makes all the difference in the world to me,” he added. “Without the second chance they helped me get, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”