Helping others is a passion for Victor, who has worked with correctional officers in adult facilities and juvenile halls to establish a number of self-help support programs for the inmates. Victor recalls a chance meeting at West Valley College in Saratoga. A young male student approached him and said: "I know you. You changed my life; you are the reason I'm here now." It turned out that the man had been in one of Victor's programs at a juvenile hall. "Finding out that I had made a difference in that young man's life was the greatest joy," Victor says.

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz and obtaining a doctorate in clinical psychology or forensics, Victor feels he will eventually return to working with prisoners: "I want to work with people who have been totally forgotten," he says. "It's an anonymous-type job, but if you reach just a few people, you can have a part in changing the face of civilization."

*For more information about the Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Awards, please see page 23 of the Transfer Viewbook.