Marco Garcia ‘95, Alejandra Garcia ‘96, Mateo Garcia, Amada Garcia ‘26
For Marco and Alejandra Garcia, IMSA isn’t just a high school. It’s the place where they grew up, met each other, and began shaping the lives they live today. Now, as their daughter Amada walks the same halls, Marco and Alejandra are experiencing IMSA in so many different ways; as engaged alumni, partners in giving back to our community, and for the first time ever, as IMSA parents! We wanted to know more about their IMSA experience – read our Q&A below:
1. What are some of the most memorable experiences you had at IMSA when you were students?
Alejandra:
- Taking the bus to Fox Valley Mall
- Making Team Captain of the girls’ soccer team
- Touring the halls on Friday night
- Scrounging up our dollars to order Marchelloni’s Pizza
- Attending IMSA prom all three years
- Long school bus rides to Chicago on X days
- Intervisitations
- Ecology trip to Ely MN to track wolves
- Tons of hours spent in the Math Resource Center
Marco:
- Playing spades with my quadmates
- Throwing wing parties with top hits from B96 radio shows
- Three sport varsity letters in a school year
- Following dance squad through state championships
- No ninth hour class and getting together with friends to play video games
- Playing football on Yare in the rain
- Stephanie Pace Marshall taking off her blazer and showing off her “SPAM” t-shirt during an assembly
- Receiving care packages in the mail room with all your favorite treats
- And of course, graduation day!
2. How would you say IMSA shaped your academic or professional journeys?
Alejandra:
IMSA shaped me to think about not just how to do things differently, but how to live differently. Ultimately, IMSA gave me the gift of defining my own version of success and who I wanted to be. It took me a while to come to this conclusion of course until I found myself with our first 2 kids and ready to embark on a homeschooling journey when my oldest was only four years old. I wondered why I seemed to make choices that didn’t exactly follow mainstream society. I chose to avoid the hospital and homebirth all three of our children. I chose a holistic system of medicine to raise my children without the use of antibiotics or other prescription drugs. And finally, I chose to educate our children at home and was confident I could figure out a way to apply inquiry-based learning. After 20 years+ in our homeschooling journey, we have thoroughly enjoyed watching our children flourish. Our oldest daughter is following her passion working in digital design, our son is an autodidactic learner traveling the world and now Amada is in her last year at IMSA.
Marco:
IMSA gave me a head start with college and ultimately my career. With an overwhelming amount of school work at such a young age, I mainly learned grit and how to push through seemingly impossible obstacles. The same determination got me through engineering school, and raising a young family while working and attending business school. The confidence this gave me over the years allowed me to start my own business and now help other professionals grow and support their careers and families. Looking back 30 years and seeing how much of my success is directly related to my time at IMSA, I have an immense sense of gratitude towards the institution and am compelled to give back.
3. As IMSA alumni, how does it feel to have your daughter currently attending IMSA and walking the same halls you both used to?
Alejandra:
It feels odd for two main reasons. First, IMSA will forever be my sacred space where I grew up and experienced some of the biggest transformation in my life. I’m not talking about just physical and intellectual growth, but emotional and identity-based growth as well. IMSA was the place where I not only got to define myself but expand upon what I thought was possible for my life. Plus, I found my life partner here too which means we also grew up together at IMSA which I think further helped future-proof our marriage. I definitely saw that Marco and I would have kids together one day, but we just never saw ourselves pushing them to attend IMSA unless they really wanted it for themself.
We go through stages in life and think, “ok, that’s done, now on to the next thing.” And you feel like you won’t go back to that thing because now there’s 2-3 things you know will be coming. But we need to remember that life is cyclical and we should expect and even look forward to that old thing because we’re coming back to it as an older and hopefully wiser version of ourselves. So what I found in having Amada attend as a student is that I started this line of questioning all over again…”how do I want to show up as an IMSA parent, both for my daughter and the IMSA community?” and “what would be the most authentic way for me to show up?”
Marco:
I feel incredibly proud and honored to have Amada attend IMSA. I also have much compassion when I hear about the long hours of studying and sleepless nights. I remind her to ignore the fierce competition with grades, scores, and comparisons about which college everyone is going to, and enjoy the bonding sessions with friends. She’s heard our stories about what IMSA was like, and now I enjoy hearing about her journey there.
4. As engaged alumni who have donated their time, talent, and treasure back to IMSA, you have supported us in so many meaningful ways. Are there any specific moments, memories, or thoughts that encouraged you to support IMSA and be so involved?
Alejandra:
The most significant memory I have is in making the commitment to give back to IMSA. I remember still having to pay back school loans and us making the decision to be consistent in making yearly donations. Like anything else, the consistency led us to feel like we were making an impact even though we started with small sized donations. We became more confident that our smaller donations would some day add up to a lot for IMSA’s long term mission. Equally important, was the ability to support IMSA at the student level in their time of need. I remember getting a call one day during early fall season with the opportunity to support a student in affording a laptop. At that moment, I told myself if my own kid needed support I would hope and pray that he could get some help from the community. I said “yes, of course” without hesitation.
Marco:
I remember the first time I stepped on the IMSA campus during Excel before the start of Sophomore year. We were being welcomed by the Juniors and Seniors running the program at the time. They showed us the ins-and-outs of getting around campus, through the maze of the main building, hangout spots for students between classes, and we began friendships that ushered us into the new school year with a head start. In similar fashion, I feel compelled to help guide our IMSA family of students throughout high school, college and ultimately their career. I enjoy sharing the experiences and lessons I learned to navigate school, work and family challenges in life.
Bonus Question (Amada)
- What are your favorite memories you’ve had so far in your current IMSA experience, and what’s something you think has changed a lot since the time your parents attended IMSA?
Amada:
My favorite memories are the pancake nights my friends and I would have in my wing.
I think the rules and environment have changed. It’s a lot stricter, and sometimes it’s hard to see what the school values, but I also think there’s more of a community presence with events like clash of the halls.
