Meet the Earl Woods Scholars: Erica & Jessica Rivera

In unison, identical twins Erica and Jessica Rivera emphatically declare that mathematics is their passion. They don’t know where this love comes from. They say it’s organic; let’s say it runs in their matching DNA. From as early as fourth grade, the now 18-year-old sisters remember the joy they felt solving math problems in class. 

“As soon as I start working on a math problem I feel like I am stepping into a different world — a world where there just might be a possible solution to every problem,” Erica said.

Looking for solutions to life’s problems is something that Erica and Jessica have had their fair share of. Their mother, Celia Gaytan, immigrated from Mexico with little more than a fifth-grade education. Most weekends the twins are up by 4 a.m., helping Gaytan load a truck with clothes and shoes to sell at the swap meet, to make ends meet. The single mom and her girls share a single bedroom in an apartment in one of Anaheim’s most dangerous neighborhoods. In 2015, due to escalating violence between rival gangs, the apartment complex they live in was set on fire. 

“It is not easy living in an environment where inspiration and motivation as well as dreams are limited,” Erica said. 

Alumni of the Tiger Woods Learning Center and current Earl Woods Scholars, the twins acknowledge that their family’s struggle has shaped them, but they refuse to let it define who they are. 

“Besides having to learn how to live with a variety of disadvantages, I learned to live with hope,” Jessica explained. “Education was the one thing that allowed me to escape from the horrible conditions that I was living in.” 

The Tiger Woods Learning Center (TWLC) became an educational refuge for the girls. While they were first introduced to TWLC during their elementary school’s week-long field trip in fifth grade, it wasn’t until the twins were freshmen at Anaheim’s Savanna High School that the center became part of their daily routine. They came in to study for exams, receive help on homework and take part in STEM-related after-school workshops. Classes like food science, photography and their favorite, the College Bound Academy, exposed them to possibilities for college and beyond. 

“Coming to the center, that’s when I got more of an introduction to the STEM-related fields and what I could potentially study in college, and that made me fall more in love with the subject,” Jessica said.

“Coming here, I felt like I was one step ahead because of the extra support that was provided,” Erica explained. “Coming from a school that lacks those resources, it was appealing to us. Everything was provided, you just had to take advantage of it.” 

In looking back, though, it was their acceptance to the Earl Woods Scholarship Program (EWSP) that they believe made the biggest impact on their academic life. EWSP staff resources led the girls to competitive math, STEM and biomedical research summer programs at Stanford, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. Erica and Jessica are grateful that EWSP not only introduced them to a diverse range of private, liberal arts colleges outside of California, but also steered them toward additional scholarship programs, assisted with the application process and covered most application costs. The one-on-one attention provided by EWSP staff, coupled with numerous college prep and financial aid workshops and meet and greets with admissions officers, made the college application process far less daunting. 

For the twins, the environment of support that TWLC offered them left a lasting impression as well. 

“Being around people that have the same goals as you, being able to be with nine students who are in the same position as you, first-generation college students, is something that really helped me throughout the process as well,” Jessica said. 

For Erica, it is clear that the EWSP staff has become an extension of her family. 

“Having five people look over our college essays,” Erica boasted. “It’s more than our high school could ever offer us. I feel blessed to have them. I have bonded with them; I’m connected to them. That personal connection is established.”

The feeling of love and respect is mutual and evident when speaking to TWLC’s Programs Manager Denisse Jover, who has worked with the twins since their freshman year. 

“As I continue to work with them, what impresses me most is their drive and motivation. They are not afraid to ask questions and seek out resources to ensure they each set themselves up for success,” Jover said. “I am very excited for what the future holds for them because they are change agents not only for their family but their community as well.”

With applications out to a total of 19 schools each, the twins have already received their first set of acceptance letters, from Maine’s Bowdoin College. While they were both far too humble to brag, between the two of them, the twins are finalists for many prestigious scholarships, ranging from Disney, Coca-Cola and Dell to the Gates Millennial Scholarship. With all their accolades and achievements, Erica and Jessica have set out to break stereotypes and prove that where you come from should not limit where you go in life.  

“Because I am a financially-disadvantaged student and come from a single-parent household, it is said that I won’t end up achieving anything in life,” Jessica explained. “Despite every obstacle, despite every hardship, despite every struggle, I choose to prove those expectations wrong. I have decided to become the person that I expect to be, rather then the person that others expect me to be. You can look at your disadvantages as an excuse to fail, or you can look at them as a reason to strive for better.” 

Erica and Jessica’s excitement for what the future holds is evident. With their sights set on Stanford, the twins relish the idea of meeting a diverse group of peers, throwing themselves into STEM-related coursework, studying abroad and seeing the world. They’ve worked hard to get where they are, and they plan to work even harder to attain their goals. 

“I don’t stop when I’m tired,” Erica declared. “I stop when I’m finished.” 

Champions of the unexpected for 20 years.