All heart

High School senior Stivi Vangadio remembers what life was like three years ago when he and his dad and younger sister joined his mother in California to start a new life.

The teen grew up in the Congo, in central Africa, fluent in his native French and two African languages, Lingala and Kikongo. When he arrived in America he barely knew one word of English.

"When Stivi arrived in December 2004, I remember him sitting, smiling and nodding. Always smiling, always coming back to my office," said Alice Wise, his Elsie Allen High School counselor.

The new student didn't have the English skills to tell Wise what she would eventually learn: That he was determined to get a good education. What followed was a three-year journey from English as a Second Language classes to advanced placement, summer at Stanford and a view of a future that has him working as a Sonoma County surgeon.

"Not only is this boy the nicest kid, he is just incredibly intelligent, just off the charts. Who goes from ESL to AP? I can't wait for March when the college letters start coming in," said Wise.

Signs of his drive were there in the Congo. Vangadio basically missed the third grade when power was cut off in the war torn capital city of Kinshasa. Undeterred, Vangadio sought out his third grade book and studied it, so he'd be ready for fourth grade.

In America, at Elsie Allen, he was put in English as a Second Language classes. He didn't have to speak the language to know that some kids made fun of his early struggles.

"When I first got here, I remember some African American kids made fun of me. They would pick on me. That was my first motivation. Just to know what people said about me that was a joke," he recalled.

"By my second semester of sophomore year, I got A's. I got an A in physical science and my teacher was amazed," he said.

The Vangadio family left the Congo because they believed education was key to a better future. Stivi's mother, Maya Zanga, arrived in California first in 2001. Married adults in the Congo retain their family surnames and children take the last name of the fathers.

In Africa, his father, Dimonekene Vangadio, was a car mechanic and his mother, Mayanzola "Maya" Zanga, was a seamstress who dreamed of becoming a nurse.

Today his father works as a janitor at SRJC and his mother has become a certified nurse's assistant working at a Petaluma convalescent home. She is also attending Santa Rosa Junior College, where she is pursuing nursing studies.

Today, Stivi Vangadio is a senior getting A's in his advanced placement classes. He also attends Cyber High, a computer-based, teacher-supervised program that allows him to redo early classes to improve past grades.

He's in the French Club and the Homework Club mentoring other students. He runs on the school's track team and he works part time at a Santa Rosa fast-food restaurant, where he has picked up some conversational Spanish.

It was his grandfather's death of heart disease years ago that set Stivi Vangadio on his quest to become a cardio-vascular surgeon.

Last spring a teacher, Barry Sullivan, who is now an Elsie Allen school counselor, suggested to Vangadio that he apply to a Stanford University School of Medicine summer program. Designed for low-income, diverse, high school students, it offers a challenging educational opportunity.

"You fill out a big application and then they call for a phone interview. I hung up and I thought, I hope I get it, I hope I get it," he said.

He was invited to Stanford to interview among 45 applicants, half of whom he knew would be cut.

"They call you into a room and I thought, all I can do is tell my story. Then they thanked me and said they would call and let me know," he said.

On another day, the uncle who drove him to Stanford also drove him to Fountaingrove to talk about the future.

"He said, look at these big houses. These houses will never have graffiti on them, never. This is the kind of place you will be living," Vangadio said.

When the call from Stanford came two weeks later, the teen was home alone, busy doing chemistry homework.

Out of 250 total applicants he was to be one of 25 summer scholars.

"The whole time I have the phone in my hand and the lady is saying 'Stivi? Stivi?' She said, 'Oh, you sound excited.' Excited? I was crying I was so happy," he said.

For five summer weeks the tall, serious boy from Sonoma County focused on the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program. He followed pathologists and assisted in autopsies. He got up at 5 a.m. to study.

At Stanford he earned his first American nickname.

"Because he was so good at explaining equations and how they applied to science and medicine, the other kids called him cosine. He became Stivi Cosine," said Sullivan.

Under supervision he was allowed to make autopsy incisions, like a medical student.

"I know for a woman you make a 'Y' incision and for a man, a 'T'. I can insert a catheter into a cadaver. Some of the students, they threw up. I was fine. I was excited," he said.

It's been an uphill climb from ESL to AP and Stanford, but Vangadio is determined to push through all challenges.

"When we first came here my parents hoped I could get into the J.C. We have a very nice J.C. but I started thinking about four-year colleges. I just found out that my grades make me eligible for a UC, so why not Stanford, if I can get in?" he said.

When he's not in school, at work, or in the family's Sunday pew at Christian Life Church in Novato, he sometimes daydreams of his adult life.

He believes he will be a Sonoma County doctor. He will marry a girl from the Congo and maybe they'll have two or three children. He said he'd like to have twins.

His family, teachers and counselors are rooting for him.

"This is what I pray for every day. We came with nothing. Maybe if he gets in a good school, God will provide," said his mother.

You can reach Staff Writer Rayne Wolfe at 521-5240 or rayne.wolfe@pressdemocrat.com.