 |
Francisco
Santiago 
Born in the Dominican Republic, Francisco Santiago moved seven times before settling in South Boston at age 14. He says that the neighborhood was rough for Latinos so when friends took him to the Computer Clubhouse in 1994, he was eager to go. “It was cool. The people welcomed me.” At first, he worried about “all the smart people but I found out I fit in. Now, I welcome other people. My advice to a first-timer is ‘Come back.’ Most do. They are impressed by all the computers and people who help.”
Now 26, “Cisco,” as friends call him, is a junior at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, studying computer science and working as a security guard at night. He just bought his first computer, a Dell laptop. Until now, he’d used computers at the Clubhouse and school. With what he’s learned at the Clubhouse and from a mentor who convinced him there’s always a way to overcome barriers, Santiago has grown. “I try to see where other people are. They have different stories but there are often similarities. If I hadn’t come to the Clubhouse, I’d want to do something with my life, but I probably wouldn’t be at college. The Clubhouse opened up the world of computers. It made me happy and gave me a real advantage.” That’s why he brought kids from his own neighborhood to the Clubhouse and why he has mentored when he has the time. “It makes me feel good,” he says. “Why not share the knowledge?” Santiago has mastered sophisticated programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Macromedia Director, a multimedia authoring tool for CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and the Web.
His father, Louis Santiago has seen how much his son likes the Clubhouse. “Every afternoon he went to learn something. Now he’s at the university studying computer science. He’s working. He’s happy.”
In 1998, Santiago worked at Mathsoft and in 1999 at the MIT Media Laboratory. There, he helped design a Logo programming language interface for tiny “cricket” computers. Cisco has also worked part-time at Intel’s Hudson, MA, microchip manufacturing plant designing Web pages for their Intranet. A 1997 graduate of South Boston High School, he says, “I didn’t learn those skills at school. I learned them at the Clubhouse.”
Santiago says, “At the Clubhouse, my mind expanded. Now I think about stuff more deeply. Computers open my mind.” The Museum of Science, where the flagship Clubhouse is based, is a rich environment for a venturesome mind. Fascinated by space, he’s been to the Hayden Planetarium, explored solar flares at the Gilliland Observatory and looks forward to using its powerful telescopes.
“I don’t know if it’s the stars themselves or that they’re so far away, but the mystery of what’s out there calls me.” He says, “I want to get outside the box. Everything I’ve done pushes me towards this.”
Santiago’s goal is to graduate from college and find work that brings together technology and art. Whether it’s designing websites or programming robots, “it will be something creative and fun,” he says.