The city of Chula Vista presented a proclamation last month to former Southwestern College (SWC) student Xiomara Villarreal-Gerardo for her award-winning journalism and athletic achievements.
Mayor Mary Casillas Salas and the Chula Vista City Council presented the proclamation during a Jan.25 city council meeting alongside SWC journalism professor Dr. Max Branscomb, who nominated Villarreal-Gerardo to the Most Remarkable Teens Program. In November 2021, Villarreal-Gerardo received her remarkable teen's award in the category of journalism and was also recognized for her community work.
At SWC, Villarreal-Gerardo was the Editor-in-Chief of El Sol Magazine in 2021, and the Associate Editor-in-Chief, Sports Editor, and Campus Editor of the Sun Newspaper. She was also California’s only female sports editor.
Under her leadership, El Sol Magazine and the Sun Newspaper received national championships.
"I'm extremely proud of the work that the writers did at Southwestern College,” Villarreal-Gerardo said.
Villarreal-Gerardo is in her junior year at San Diego State University (SDSU), where she is a bilingual honors student writing for the Daily Aztec, Mundo Azteca, and the Social Media Editor of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists SDSU Chapter. She is also a freelance writer for Formula One news for Jeawok Media and aspires to work in the media industry for Formula One Racing.
“I've always been like a fan of Formula One because my family has always like watched motorsports my grandpa from my mom's side, had an auto part shop in Tijuana, and I grew up liking cars,” Villarreal-Gerardo said. “When I started doing journalism, I thought it would be cool to be a journalist for Formula One.”
Although her experience in professional journalism began at SWC, Villarreal-Gerardo said her love for storytelling and writing began in elementary school while learning how to speak English. As a fronteriza, she was raised in Tijuana and Chula Vista.
She shared that in her youth, skateparks were a place she received skateboarding lessons from her father. It is also a place where she became a professional scooter athlete, ranking No. 2 in Southern California, but at the age of 14, Villarreal-Gerardo suffered serious injuries while competing and was unable to attend in-person school for a year.
She completed three years of the high school curriculum in 10 months and graduated from Eastlake High School at the age of 15, but not before serving as the captain of the Eastlake High school Basketball team. Additionally, Villarreal-Gerardo is the world’s second Kendama player and earned her black belt in karate.
She began her studies at Southwestern college at the age of 16 as a president's list scholar, where she earned two Associate Degrees, in Journalism and Communication Studies. Villarreal-Gerardo credits Dr. Branscomb for her accomplishments in journalism.
Her journalistic work earned recognition with various individual awards by the College Media Association, Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club, and the Journalism Association of Community Colleges.
In September, she was selected to represent, and be an ambassador for the city, as Miss Chula Vista 2021. She plans to continue supporting non-profit organizations like the Gurmilan Foundation, which supports people with disabilities, and she will begin working with Fundación Castro-Limón, a nonprofit organization based in Tijuana that supports children with cancer.
“My main goal as Miss Chula Vista is to be an example for young Latinas. I want to show them that they can do it. I’m also big on encouraging younger generations to pursue an education. Perseverance is a big part of me, and I want to show younger generations,” Villarreal-Gerardo said.
