Sequoia's Alejandre Sailing on Course After Perfect Storm

Oscar Alejandre figures he was fortunate to escape from a life that offered little hope and was headed sharply down the wrong road.

After being surrounded by violence, crime, drugs and gangs early in his teenage years in Hayward, Alejandre suddenly got a Get Out of Jail Free card when his family moved back across the Bay to his Redwood City roots three years ago.

Recognizing that he had an unusual chance to forge a new path, Alejandre jumped on that opportunity and as a result is flourishing as a senior. In large part because of the Cherokee football program, he learned volumes about responsibility, focus and accountability. And he’s eager to put all that to good use when he joins the U.S. Marine Corps upon graduation.

Looking back on the three and a half years he spent in Hayward, Alejandre matter-of-factly describes what seems to have been a perfect storm of adversity.

After moving to a particularly rough area, Alejandre’s home life took several turns for the worse.

First, his mother, Maria, suffered complications from shoulder and wrist injuries that would keep her jobless for about four years. And then his parents divorced, a decision Alejandre believes stemmed from the repeated alcohol-related issues of his father, Gilberto. Alejandre hasn’t seen or spoken to his father in multiple years – “he wasn’t really a kind person.”

Alejandre and his two older siblings remained living with Maria, but he said, “There was no money.” For long stretches, all the family had to eat was beans, cheese and tortillas.

In the midst of all this, Alejandre was grappling with how to handle a dangerous street life. And once he got to middle school, he started hanging out with people who were in gangs and dealing drugs.

“I thought that would help me be alive at that time. I don’t think any normal kid could survive on his own,” he explained. “My mentality at the time was just worry about me, myself. I started hustling to get money for myself.”

Although he kept up average grades in middle school, the outside pressures consumed his attention once he started at Mt. Eden High School, and he began getting all Ds and Fs.

Violence and intimidation were so ingrained in the society that Alejandre said he’d wait until classes were underway to walk the one block from his home to school, just to ensure safe passage.

But midway through his freshman year, Alejandre got a lifeline – a ticket out of crime-ridden Hayward. The move was precipitated by his family’s continuing misfortune – defaulting on house payments – but it ultimately worked in everyone’s favor.

Alejandre and his family moved back to Redwood City and were taken in by a friend, Lydia Vargas, with whom they would stay for the next year.

Alejandre, who enrolled at Sequoia, said the timely move back across the Bay served as a reset button for his life.

“My whole mentality changed. … I could just start fresh – a clean slate – and I could start doing good,” he said. “I didn’t have to live looking over my shoulder. I didn’t have to worry if I was going to be followed, beat up or shot on the next block or something.”

Although Alejandre had never played football – he grew up playing soccer – he decided to try out after Jacob Praturlon, Vargas’ son and a member of Sequoia’s team, repeatedly encouraged him. To play as a sophomore meant that he needed to qualify academically, so he turned his attention toward becoming a good student. The results quickly followed.

Just about as soon he suited up for football, Alejandre was hooked. He’d found the perfect outlet for camaraderie and structure, packaged in a sport he turned out to be quite talented at.

He earned a starting spot at cornerback on the varsity as a junior last year, when resurgent Sequoia , the Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division title and a berth in .

Now a senior, the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Alejandre is “an anchor on defense,” according to coach Rob Poulos. He also sees plenty of snaps at wide receiver and he’s a member of most of Sequoia’s special teams. Moreover, he’s been an exemplary leader and has been named a rotational captain multiple times by his teammates,

“He’s everything we want in the football program,” Poulos said, “a smart, tough, team-first football player who’s a role model off the field. You don’t get better than that.”

Off the field, Alejandre and his family have gradually found more stability. His mother found work as an assistant teacher at a daycare and as a janitor, and they moved into a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment. Money has remained very tight, but Alejandre always keeps a smile on his face.

“You can’t really complain because that only makes the situation worse,” said Alejandre, who balances his studies and football with his job as a dishwasher at Denny’s.

Asked what piqued his interest in joining the Marines, Alejandre said he’s always had an eye on the military and was inspired by the recruiting process over the summer.

“Marines, they’re disciplined. They get the job done. You can rely on them. It kind of reminded me of being on the football team.”

As for what lessons he takes from his tumultuous stretch, Alejandre figures he has greatly benefited from developing an internal fortitude and determination to persevere no matter the circumstances.

“Most people don’t know the other side of life. They haven’t dealt with it,” he said. “I got to live both sides of life basically – the good and the bad. I really have a whole different perspective on life.”

“I also want to be a self-disciplined person, someone who gets the job done, someone who takes care of everything,” he added.

“It’s made me a better person and a stronger person.”