Enrique Fuller-Avalos just moved to Olympia, where he is clerking for the Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court. The 25-year-old laughs thinking about his recent graduation from Gonzaga Law School, hearing his family celebrating in the crowd.

“I’m excited with this new job that I’ll be effecting change in a real way,” says Enrique. “I don’t think of myself as special, but I’m a hard worker and growing up I could rely on people for support—mentors and good friends and family. Not everyone gets that support.”

Enrique was raised in Portland, OR by his mother and with his six siblings—the house was full of energy, and his mother would open their home to friends who needed help. With so much going on, attendance at school was hard. In kindergarten, Enrique was matched with Andy—a professional mentor from Friends of the Children.

Andy and Enrique hit it off. For Enrique, something as simple as buying him an alarm clock with a battery back-up and helping him set it to his favorite radio station was life changing. Andy helped Enrique understand that he could take power over his own life, and practice responsibility. Enrique went from 48 tardies in first grade to only 4 by the third grade.

Andy was 6 feet tall, and Enrique was shorter, and not as fit. The pair would get out of the house and be active—playing basketball or riding bikes. They would have long conversations over meals. Enrique remembers how good it felt to talk with an adult—to be heard. Enrique worked to become a better student despite an environment that wasn’t always stable, and there was an affirmation from Andy that stuck: “it’s just circumstances.” It fueled a passion for Enrique to work hard.

One time Andy’s car was towed and Andy called his father to pick him and Enrique up.

“Later, Andy mentions that his dad is a judge for the Oregon Supreme Court and I couldn’t believe it!” Enrique says. “I thought he’s just a normal guy, and something connected in my head. It broke an internal barrier for me, and I realized maybe I could do something like that in my life.”

Early on in their mentoring relationship, Andy told Enrique: “I’m going to be at your college graduation, not just at high school.” Enrique’s mother and father pushed Enrique to succeed too. They both pulled Andy aside asking, “How do we get Enrique to college?”

In Enrique’s 12 years at Friends of the Children, he also had Darren and Adam as Friends, and he acknowledges that all three men served an important role in his life. They helped build him into the person he is today—there when his mother remarried, when the family faced homelessness, at other challenging moments, and celebrations too.

When Enrique first started college at Western Oregon, he got a text from Andy: “You deserve this. You belong there.”

“I was so ready for college,” Enrique says. “And winning the Jordan Brand Wings Scholarship for a full ride, things were different. I didn’t have to worry about food or housing. It was a moment I had waited for, for so long—better circumstances. Finally, I was in a position to succeed. It’s just circumstances…”

“Moving around a lot, facing instability, you sometimes become self-conscious,” Enrique opens up. “You feel like you are wearing everything you are, and that’s how other people see you. But what I learned from Andy was to take up space, and to be comfortable in places where at first I didn’t think I belonged.”

“Andy effected change not just for me, but my entire family,” Enrique continues. “He uplifted all of us. My sister Chanrithy is now a Friend for youth in Portland, and I know I will mentor in my own way too.”

“In my law career I want to lift up younger people, because when I look back, I know that I’m lucky,” says Enrique.