At 16, Brandon Sánchez Mejia was stuck inside his family home in Chalatenango, El Salvador, watching other teens go to school through the kitchen window. His family had moved from San Salvador, and his mother wanted to keep him safe from gangs. Plus, there was no money for school. But far from dampening his desire to learn, it only fueled it.
He read every book he could get ahold of and helped other kids with their homework through the bars on the windows. Recognizing his passion, neighbors helped pay for school supplies, and at age 18 he went off to his first day of high school. That same year he also got a camera phone and began documenting his life — the start of a passion for photography. Then his family got the good news: After a 14-year wait, their U.S. Green Card application had been approved.
When he landed in Los Angeles at age 22, Sánchez knew only a few words of English. He worked as a dishwasher and started taking ESL classes at Santa Monica College (SMC). Those classes stretched from one year to four, from English to design and photography. When he finished a class, SMC counselors would ask, “What are you going to take next?” until he had racked up enough credits to transfer.
Though he hadn’t started SMC with the idea of transferring, Sánchez ended up applying to eight universities. “I was 100 percent sure it wouldn’t happen for me,” he says. “I thought it was impossible.” He got in everywhere and chose UC Berkeley. Pushing beyond the doubt, he took a leap of faith, packed his camera and moved north. “I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to pay for it,” remembers Sánchez. “But I got a Pell Grant, I got work-study, I got a bunch of scholarships and I took a small loan. I was able to pay for tuition, books, food, rent — everything. Growing up, we didn’t have beds. We just slept on the floor. So when I got to Berkeley, for the first time in my life I was even able to buy a bed to sleep in.” He was 27.
At UC Berkeley, Sánchez pursued every opportunity he could cram into his schedule. He found a community in the Department of Art Practice and got campus jobs that expanded his photo skills. Sánchez’s bold thesis project, A Masculine Vulnerability, challenged male stereotypes. “It came from this idea that as men, we are not allowed to show skin as scars or emotions or weakness,” he said. Some 150 of his photographs were exhibited in a giant installation for his senior show. At 29, Sánchez’s photography career is heating up, and he has become the first person in his family to earn a degree.
What’s next? This fall Sánchez heads to London with the UC Berkeley study abroad program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. After that, he plans to pursue an MFA.
