2017 Against the Odds Award Recipient

Edgar is the epitome of the American dream – a toddler from Mexico escaping a life of poverty, working his way picking crops across America until he and his family settled in DeFuniak. After struggling in school, he dropped out of high school and entered the construction boom, when that dried up, Edgar didn’t quit. At the urging of his wife, he began studying for his GED at the NWF Chautauqua Center.

In 2012, he not only received his GED but became a US Citizen at the same time. Hungry for more, Edgar went on to complete his A.A. and transferred to FAMU and received his B.S. in Architecture in spring 2017. He is set to begin work on his master’s degree in Architecture this fall. The odds were stacked against Edgar and he faced numerous turning points in his life but the one constant was his drive to provide for his family and he knew the only way to do that was through quality education.

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