Julián Castro, mayor of San Antonio, expressed his vision for the city’s future in a lecture given at St. Philip’s College on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

"Educational achievement is the number one priority for this city," said Castro.

He said that every young person in our city should be able to achieve their dreams right here in San Antonio.

The lecture, presented by St. Philip’s College President’s Lecture Series, was an opportunity for Castro to outline San Antonio’s position on education.

He said that San Antonio ranks low when it comes to the percentage of people over the age of 25 who have a college degree.

Castro discussed the challenges of giving young people the environment they need to achieve educational success by drawing from his personal experience.

He said there were three moments in his life that made the difference for him.

First, teacher involvement encouraged Castro to believe in himself. At Hoelscher Elementary in the Edgewood School District, Castro recalled his first grade teacher encouraging him to get ahead in his school work since he was doing well.

Second, parental involvement was a key to Castro attaining the educational experience important to his success. His mom, Rosie Castro, pulled him from Rhodes Middle School in the San Antonio Independent School District after a school official had commented during school orientation that half of the students would not be there by the eighth grade. She moved Castro and his brother, Joaquin, to Tafolla Middle School in SAISD.

Third, self-determination was a key to Castro’s educational success after high school. He applied at all the universities he could. Though he came in ninth in his class and did not have the highest SAT scores, the fact that he applied to these schools gave him the chance that many others chose not to take.

"We were one of very few folks who actually applied to those schools who reached farther than we thought we could," Castro said.

Castro’s other priority is San Antonio’s economic development. With education as the bedrock for his vision, Castro will also focus on keeping San Antonio’s well-educated workforce at home.

"Brain power is the new currency of success," Castro said.