Rafael Herrera Mota was a student at WEGO whose journey has been anything but normal. Playing baseball and keeping good grades were priorities for him from freshman to senior year, and now his story has been recognized and published.
Herrera , who likes to be called Rafa, recently had his story published in “Not by Chance, a book published by the global nonprofit organization Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID).
AVID is an organization that provides help for students to be successful by providing tools and teaching skills that allow students to be college and career-ready. “Not by Chance” is a book put together by the AVID program to highlight the stories of students who truly represent the AVID program and what it means to be an AVID student.
“The international AVID program sometimes puts together these types of things to highlight and showcase some of the people who have really shown grit and perseverance within the program, and just to really highlight the students, because the students are what bring life to AVID,” AVID teacher Nicole Stadler said.
Herrera’s story starts in Mexico, where he grew up until he was 15 before moving to the United States. He stayed with his older brother and began attending WEGO. There, he met several teachers who had an impact on his journey, including ESL teacher Mark Poulterer, who helped Herrera learn English. Baseball had always been Herrera’s dream. He had played in Mexico with a group of kids, though not on an organized team. When he had the chance to make the baseball team at WEGO, he took the opportunity.
“I was like, ‘He’s not gonna play baseball.’ And sure enough, the next day, he was out there on the field, and he didn’t know the English like terms. He was the, he was one of the, the few kids in baseball that speaks Spanish, like most of them are, you know, white, all American kids, so, but he wanted to play so bad. He was like, I don’t care. I’ll just learn it,” Poulterer said.
Learning a new language can be difficult, but Herrera was able to pick up English thanks to his love for baseball and support from his teachers. He tested out of ESL classes at the end of his junior year, which allowed him to take AVID during his senior year — something he had been looking forward to but had not been able to do earlier because of the language barrier. Once he was able to take AVID, he made the most of the opportunity. Herrera dreamed of attending college and had heard good things about the program, so he worked to maximize his time there.
This is reflected in the book itself.
“In AVID, he learned the tools to succeed. How to take effective notes, stay organized, and prepare for the academic demands of college. It gave him the structure and support he needed, right when he needed it most,” “Not by Chance” states.
“Not by Chance” was put together by AVID, which reached out to many people about remarkable stories of students involved in the program. AVID teacher Jennifer Culbertson believed Herrera would be a strong candidate to be featured and reached out to Poulterer about submitting Herrera’s story to the team working on the book.
“In the Fall of 2024, the AVID Team received an email about nominating someone to be the AVID Alumni of the Year. We talked about it, and Rafa (who graduated in May 2024) was picked by our team. I reached out to Mark Poulterer to help with the nomination because of all the teachers at WeGo, Mr. Poulterer was the one who knew his story the best. We nominated him that Fall, and then last fall, we found out that they were in the process of writing a book, and Rafa was included,” Culbertson said.
Success can be difficult, especially for those whose journeys are similar to Herrera’s. However, Herrera believes his story shows that it is still possible.
“I feel it that, as if I did it, anybody can do it. Because I just have all these opportunities that you can just take advantage of it, and you can, you can do a lot of things with so little, you know, yeah, I think so that if you really believe in yourself and you put your mind into it. You can accomplish everything you want to,” Herrera said.
Sometimes, the only motivation a person needs is to know that someone in their shoes did it too. For many at West Chicago Community High School, Herrera is that person. His journey highlights the opportunities available at WEGO and serves as inspiration for others who may be in similar situations.
“Especially for those that are starting that were like, where I met, where I was, yeah, just be patient, because I know when you don’t know the language. It’s hard to stay to stay positive and to stay in school,” Herrera said.