Meet the Sacramento space’s class of 2026 — Half 2

The Abridged model:

• Thousands of scholars throughout the Sacramento area lately graduated or are getting ready to stroll throughout the stage in a matter of days.
• Abridged spoke with graduates of the category of 2026 about their path by means of highschool, how they discovered their passions and who impressed them to achieve this milestone.
• This is the second of a two-part collection sharing the tales of scholars from El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Sacramento and West Sacramento.

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As commencement season involves a detailed throughout the Sacramento area, a number of highschool members from the category of 2026 lately sat down with Abridged to share their tales.

The graduates expressed gratitude for the individuals who guided them by means of the previous 4 years, from members of the family to lecturers and counselors. Many spoke of eager to set an instance for different younger individuals.

This is the second of a two-part collection. Read the primary half right here.

Jump to every graduate’s story:

Ishaan Dhaliwal, Oak Ridge High School, El Dorado Hills

Callie Gemmell, West Park High School, Roseville

Brian Gomez, Encina High School, Sacramento

Jazmin Garcia, Davis Senior High School, Davis

‘I’m simply making an attempt to not waste it’

Ishaan Dhaliwal, 18, already has a transparent imaginative and prescient for his future.

After graduating final month from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Dhaliwal is getting ready to move to Santa Clara University to main in finance and minor in philosophy.

Asked why he selected that course of research, Dhaliwal mentioned candidly: job safety.

“I kind of see it as like, I’m spending four years there, and it’s building me up to what I’m going to be doing career-wise,” he mentioned of school.

Stability is vital to Dhaliwal. When Dhaliwal was 4 years previous, his father died in a fuel station parking zone from alcohol poisoning. His mom, Sushveen McWhorter, moved their household of 5 from Fresno to Sacramento to stay with family members, an expertise he detailed in his school utility essay.

He described in his private assertion studying independence at an early age, because the son of a then-single mom.

“I decided that if my father couldn’t be present, I would be,” he wrote.

Now, as Dhaliwal prepares to move to varsity, he mentioned he’s cognizant of all the things his mom and stepfather, Rob McWhorter, have executed for his or her household.

“It’s just a very selfless thing. (They) worked so hard,” Dhaliwal mentioned. “And I’m just trying not to waste it.”

‘The more people you meet, the better’

Callie Gemmell loves assembly new individuals.

“I feel like the more people you meet the better,” Gemmell mentioned.

Plus, “I can make people laugh pretty easy. Which is also really important with photography.” 

Throughout her time at West Park High School in Roseville, Gemmell was a part of the images profession pathway. She realized the technical aspect of cameras and modifying expertise whereas constructing a sturdy portfolio. 

The bubbly 18-year-old has a knack for serving to the individual on the opposite finish of her lens really feel snug, open up and give a candid expression. 

“Sometimes, they’re trying to fake smile, and I’m like, you can tell,” Gemmell mentioned. 

Freshman yr, Gemmell landed within the images elective by probability not alternative. Any hesitation she had about making an attempt one thing new didn’t final lengthy. Her senior yr she served as a lead photographer in this system, and for her last undertaking, she took classmates’ graduating portraits. 

Gemmell credit Micah Albert, her teacher and knowledgeable photographer, for sparking her enthusiasm.  

At West Park, graduates select a instructor to learn out their identify as they settle for their diploma. As Gemmell walked throughout the sector and on stage May 29, Albert learn her identify aloud. 

Gemmell is taking her open thoughts and excessive spirits subsequent to San Diego State University. The transition interval is bittersweet, she mentioned, as she prepares to say goodbye to household and associates.

But, Gemmell mentioned, “I’m ready to get out and experience new things.”

‘I wanted to make her proud’

Brian Gomez didn’t have a lot motivation going into his final yr at Encina High School.

The 17-year-old was coming off a junior yr with low attendance data, usually incomplete assignments and dangerous influences. “I wasn’t liking what I was doing,” Gomez mentioned.

The solely cause he continued coming to high school, he mentioned, was for his mom.

But Gomez mentioned the employees at Encina, together with his development instructor Erick Reavis and counselor Veronica Ramirez, reached out. They suggested him to make extra of his senior yr and urged him to think about life after commencement — plans he hadn’t actually weighed earlier than, he mentioned.

“I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do college,” Gomez mentioned. “I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go in life.”

Gomez is headed this fall to American River College, with plans to review welding know-how. Later, he hopes to switch to Sacramento State to find out about development administration. He would be the first in his household to attend school.

“I like to tell people to have a purpose,” Gomez mentioned. “You need a purpose to exceed your limits.”

For Gomez, a lot of that function goes again to his mom, who immigrated from Mexico earlier than Gomez and his brother have been born.

“I wanted to make her happy,” he mentioned. “I wanted to make her proud.”

‘You really can have a big impact’

Few individuals, particularly youngsters, have seemingly been to as many public conferences as Jazmin Garcia.

“I love sitting in meetings,” the 18-year-old mentioned. 

Garcia lives in West Sacramento however attended colleges in Davis. She will graduate June 12 from Davis Senior High School with a prolonged resume filled with expertise on native authorities our bodies and as an intern in Rep. Mike Thompson’s Woodland workplace.

“It’s a common misconception that (because) you can’t vote, you don’t have much of an impact in your democracy,” Garcia mentioned. “But you really can have a big impact, especially at a local level.”

From roles resembling a Davis Human Relations Commission scholar consultant to Yolo County Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee commissioner, Garcia is an lively participant in ranges of democracy throughout Yolo County.

And when there isn’t already area for somebody of her age — she creates it.

Garcia based the Yolo County Youth Climate Action Board in 2024 as a junior. The undertaking, for which she helped increase $15,000 in grant funding, powers youth-led sustainability initiatives.

A mouthpiece for her technology, Garcia additionally has her personal radio present on KDRT 95.7 in Davis. Over the final two years, she has hosted company like state senators, gubernatorial candidates and metropolis council members.

“Having a young person at the other side of the interview space was really important to me,” mentioned Garcia, who’s headed to UC Berkeley this fall.

“I just felt like all these conversations that were happening weren’t taking into account the needs of a younger generation.”

Savannah Kuchar is a reporter protecting training. She got here to Sacramento to be part of the Abridged group and contribute to a vital native information supply.