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In October, the Woodside High School Wildcats won 28-14 against their biggest opponent, the Half Moon Bay Cougars, during the most anticipated football game of the season. Varsity football player and graduating senior Juan Servin Guizar said this was the most memorable moment of his high school career.
Servin Guizar will be studying civil engineering at San Diego State University in the fall. As he reflects on the challenges he’s overcome and the lessons he’s learned, he thinks back to the anchors in his life that kept him together when times were tough — family and football.
As a freshman, Servin Guizar remembers when his grade in biology fell to a C during his first semester and then to a D.
With accomplished family members who always set an example for academic success, he knew that he had to change. He said he used self-discipline to bring his grade back up and took the initiative to reach out to his teachers, attend their office hours and put in the work to better understand his assignments.
“It really just opened me up to see that when I wasn’t doing well, I just had to reach out for help and seek a new way to get out of the situation,” Servin Guizar said.
During challenging times, Servin Guizar said he keeps his family in Mexico in mind as he reminds himself of the opportunities his father provided by immigrating to the United States.
“My dad came to this beautiful city, Redwood City, and bought us a house, raised our whole family here and took a big step,” he said. “He put all that effort in for our family to have new opportunities to succeed and I didn’t want to let go of all the new doors he opened for me.”
Servin Guizar said he kept himself busy at Woodside, from playing football for all four years and serving as president of the Bible Club to joining the track and field team, serving as a peer tutor and obtaining his first-degree black belt after practicing kung fu for 12 years.
He said this fall was the most challenging time when it came to time management and he felt his “head was about to pop at times,” but looking forward to football games on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays also grounded him during stressful moments.
As his high school journey comes to an end, he said he looks forward to college in the fall and learning more about what he can do in civil engineering. He recalls being given a Lego set as a child, sparking his interest in building and creating. He hopes to be able to use a degree in civil engineering to better the lives of the community and the environment.
Servin Guizar received a $24,000 scholarship from the University Club of Palo Alto and won the Second Team All-League award for football.
Reflecting on the last four years, Servin Guizar has one message for Woodside’s underclassmen: “When you’re faced with the sink or swim option, swim. There’s always going to be help and support around you to succeed. You just have to want it enough, and you can complete anything you want.”
