EL TECOLOTE (SAN FRANCISCO) -- Born in Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, Mexico, on September 9, 1993, Gaby Sanchez was a joy to many including faculty and students from both De Anza College and San Francisco State University, where she would’ve graduated from next spring with a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting and Electronic Communication Arts. She was a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, and her first comic book was going to be published this semester, as she was a member for the SFSU Comic Book Club.
Sanchez had many goals, but her ultimate goal was to graduate from college and be a role model for her family and her fellow undocumented students, who struggle everyday like she did.
Many remember her dedication to her education. She commuted two to three hours every school day to attend either De Anza College or SFSU. She lived in the town for Dos Palos, roughly 140 miles southeast of San Francisco. Her mother, Myra, would routinely drive her to Gilroy, where she would take Caltrain to Santa Clara or San Francisco, depending on where she had school that day. Many of her classmates, who became close to her, saw her struggle and opened their homes to her on school days so she could focus without having to worry about commuting to Dos Palos.