Dr. Reyes Gauna, Ed.D. ’18, grew up working in the orchards near Lodi, 和来自墨西哥的移民父母一起采摘樱桃和其他水果. Recently, Gauna earned his doctorate in education 他毕业于欧文的康考迪亚大学，现在是斯托克顿附近的公立学区负责人. 他鼓舞人心的故事被哥伦比亚广播菲律宾十大网赌网站频道和许多当地新闻媒体报道.
“我觉得自己受到了神的眷顾，”高娜说. “耶和华是我的救主，是我的指路明灯，他指引人们走在我的路上，他们把手放在我的肩上说, ‘I see potential you may not see. Here’s what you have to do.’”
As the son of immigrants who didn’t speak English, 高娜在学校经常感到脆弱，所以他尽量退缩，远离麻烦.
“保护自己最好的方法就是保持沉默，即使别人错了,” he recalls thinking. “我现在不是那样了，但我曾经是一个年轻、胆小、害羞的孩子. Only later did I realize I had a voice.”
While elementary school was lonely for him, Gauna和一位学校管理员成为了朋友，并和她一起找到了“共同的和平”, he says. In high school, 他的社交脱节导致他提前毕业，“因为我觉得自己不适合任何地方。.”
到那时，他已经做了好几份工作，包括在16岁时管理一家当地的汉堡王.
He took some college courses and explored careers, but nothing clicked until he got a job as a school custodian, like his old friend.
“When I was a janitor, 我记得参观教室时，我会假装自己在教书,” Gauna told CBS News in a September 2019 feature.
保护自己最好的方法就是即使别人错了也保持沉默. Only later did I realize I had a voice.
当Gauna在北斯托克顿担任校园安全监察员时, the school principal noticed how well he interacted with people. One day, the principal asked to have lunch together. 他询问了Gauna的志向，并强烈鼓励他成为一名教师. 一周后，高纳开始上课，以获得他的教师资格证书. Soon, 他在小学教授双语课程，发现他的大多数学生都是和他一样的第一代移民.
“家长们总是把学生拉出来帮他们翻译，”他回忆道. “I said, ‘I want to teach these parents to speak English.’”
Dr. Reyes Gauna
So through a district adult education program in Stockton, 他为母语包括越南语的父母开设了夜校, Italian and Spanish. By word of mouth the classes grew from 15 parents to 60. Gauna用真实世界的场景教他们会话英语.
“父母们开始告诉我，他们去看了药剂师，他们的女儿不必帮他们,” he says proudly.
But teaching wasn’t all he felt called to do.
“I wanted to reach the whole school population,” he says, 因此，他获得了咨询硕士学位，并担任了几年的K-12咨询师. Then the Lord’s hand guided him again.
“我的主管让我参加了一个有抱负的管理人员项目, and I fell in love with administration,” Gauna says.
He became an assistant principal of a high school, then a K-8 principal, then a high school principal. 有一天，一位同事问他:“你的目标是成为一名主管吗??”
“It has a nice ring to it,” Gauna replied. “Have you considered doing a doctorate?” the friend asked.
“我成立了一个委员会，询问是否有人愿意和我一起做这件事，”Gauna现在说. “Fifteen said yes. 我们面试了每一所大学，看看哪一所最适合我们的团队. One person said, “有一所很棒的基于信仰的大学值得你考虑:康考迪亚大学欧文分校.’”
在很短的时间内，CUI的一个团队飞到斯托克顿与这群潜在的学生见面.
“We had lunch, and what I loved about Concordia Irvine was the spiritual aspect, the fact that they flew in to meet with us, 他们对项目和学生都有全身心的投入,” Gauna says. “It was the right people at the right time. I just felt it was genuine.”
参加康科迪亚的项目是我经历过的最神奇的事情之一. It's not a program where you get in and get out. It's an ongoing system of support.
他带领这个非正式的16人团队经历了他所谓的“真正的成功故事”.” The doctoral program’s Washington, D.C., trip (高娜后来在康考迪亚大学教这门课)是一个高潮，这个项目也是如此 China trip 他说，这“改变了我的同事对教育的看法”.
“我在康考迪亚大学学习的课程帮助我从不同的角度看待教育,” Gauna says.
他于2018年毕业，其他16人中的大多数人也是如此.
“参加康科迪亚的项目是我经历过的最神奇的事情之一,” Gauna says. “The graduation was so memorable and special. 康科迪亚也帮助我建立了友谊，我们互相帮助. It’s not a program where you get in and get out. It’s an ongoing system of support.”
在一个有40人的学区担任副督学之后,000 students, Gauna现在领导着斯托克顿外的拜伦联合学区，该学区有三所学校和一所特许学校. 他指导和鼓励人们，就像他被鼓励要有更大的梦想一样.
他说:“人们让我坐下来，说出他们在我身上看到的我自己没有看到的东西。. “I do that all the time. 我会把某人拉到一边，问他:“你这辈子打算做什么??我把别人向我提出的问题提出来，引导他们朝那个方向走. That’s how I pay it forward. 每天我都在寻找那些需要有人把手放在肩膀上对他们说, ‘Have you considered this?“我真的觉得上帝在我的人生道路上安排了他想让我倾诉的人. 我发现自己在祈祷，‘上帝啊，帮助这个人和我一样离开我的办公室吧. Give me the words.’”
Gauna is a very involved superintendent day-to-day.
“我相信一个真正的教育者生活在孩子的环境中，”他说. “My priority is to be in the schools with my staff. On Fridays I go listen to my students play jazz. Last night I was a surprise judge at a talent show. Tonight I’m speaking to our staff. I try to be in classrooms. I tell students my life story. I walk around the campus and talk to people. My slogan is ‘Beautiful people.’ They all hear me say, ‘Good morning, beautiful people.’ They think, ‘Someone thinks I’m beautiful.’”
In addition to leading the D.C. study trip for CUI’s doctoral program, Gauna recently taught a class in the program. He and his wife have three children, all athletes.
“If my journey serves to inspire, I will share it,” he says. “今天的年轻人认为，障碍是为了把他们关起来, 但它们的设计是为了看你有多大的弹性，让你前进，利用这些障碍来推动你完成人生的使命.”