The Abridged version:
- Thousands of students across the Sacramento region recently graduated or are preparing to walk across the stage in a matter of days.
- Abridged spoke with graduates of the class of 2026 about their path through high school, how they found their passions and who inspired them to reach this milestone.
- This is the second of a two-part series sharing the stories of students from El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Sacramento and West Sacramento.
As graduation season comes to a close across the Sacramento region, several high school members from the class of 2026 recently sat down with Abridged to share their stories.
The graduates expressed gratitude for the people who guided them through the past four years, from family members to teachers and counselors. Many spoke of wanting to set an example for other young people.
This is the second of a two-part series. Read the first part here.
Jump to each graduate’s story:
Ishaan Dhaliwal, Oak Ridge High School, El Dorado Hills
Callie Gemmell, West Park High School, Roseville
Brian Gomez, Encina High School, Sacramento
Jazmin Garcia, Davis Senior High School, Davis
‘I’m just trying not to waste it’
Ishaan Dhaliwal, 18, already has a clear vision for his future.
After graduating last month from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Dhaliwal is preparing to head to Santa Clara University to major in finance and minor in philosophy.
Asked why he chose that course of study, Dhaliwal said candidly: job security.
“I kind of see it as like, I’m spending four years there, and it’s building me up to what I’m going to be doing career-wise,” he said of college.
Stability is important to Dhaliwal. When Dhaliwal was 4 years old, his father died in a gas station parking lot from alcohol poisoning. His mother, Sushveen McWhorter, moved their family of five from Fresno to Sacramento to live with relatives, an experience he detailed in his college application essay.
He described in his personal statement learning independence at an early age, as the son of a then-single mother.
“I decided that if my father couldn’t be present, I would be,” he wrote.
Now, as Dhaliwal prepares to head to college, he said he is cognizant of everything his mother and stepfather, Rob McWhorter, have done for their family.
“It’s just a very selfless thing. (They) worked so hard,” Dhaliwal said. “And I’m just trying not to waste it.”
‘The more people you meet, the better’
Callie Gemmell loves meeting new people.
“I feel like the more people you meet the better,” Gemmell said.
Plus, “I can make people laugh pretty easy. Which is also really important with photography.”
Throughout her time at West Park High School in Roseville, Gemmell was part of the photography career pathway. She learned the technical side of cameras and editing skills while building a robust portfolio.
The bubbly 18-year-old has a knack for helping the person on the other end of her lens feel comfortable, open up and give a candid expression.
“Sometimes, they’re trying to fake smile, and I’m like, you can tell,” Gemmell said.
Freshman year, Gemmell landed in the photography elective by chance not choice. Any hesitation she had about trying something new didn’t last long. Her senior year she served as a lead photographer in the program, and for her final project, she took classmates’ graduating portraits.
Gemmell credits Micah Albert, her instructor and a professional photographer, for sparking her enthusiasm.
At West Park, graduates choose a teacher to read out their name as they accept their diploma. As Gemmell walked across the field and on stage May 29, Albert read her name aloud.
Gemmell is taking her open mind and high spirits next to San Diego State University. The transition period is bittersweet, she said, as she prepares to say goodbye to family and friends.
But, Gemmell said, “I’m ready to get out and experience new things.”
‘I wanted to make her proud’
Brian Gomez didn’t have much motivation going into his last year at Encina High School.
The 17-year-old was coming off a junior year with low attendance records, often incomplete assignments and bad influences. “I wasn’t liking what I was doing,” Gomez said.
The only reason he continued coming to school, he said, was for his mother.
But Gomez said the staff at Encina, including his construction teacher Erick Reavis and counselor Veronica Ramirez, reached out. They advised him to make more of his senior year and urged him to consider life after graduation — plans he hadn’t really weighed before, he said.
“I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do college,” Gomez said. “I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go in life.”
Gomez is headed this fall to American River College, with plans to study welding technology. Later, he hopes to transfer to Sacramento State to learn about construction management. He will be the first in his family to attend college.
“I like to tell people to have a purpose,” Gomez said. “You need a purpose to exceed your limits.”
For Gomez, much of that purpose goes back to his mother, who immigrated from Mexico before Gomez and his brother were born.
“I wanted to make her happy,” he said. “I wanted to make her proud.”
‘You really can have a big impact’
Few people, especially teenagers, have likely been to as many public meetings as Jazmin Garcia.
“I love sitting in meetings,” the 18-year-old said.
Garcia lives in West Sacramento but attended schools in Davis. She will graduate June 12 from Davis Senior High School with a lengthy resume stuffed with experience on local government bodies and as an intern in Rep. Mike Thompson’s Woodland office.
“It’s a common misconception that (because) you can’t vote, you don’t have much of an impact in your democracy,” Garcia said. “But you really can have a big impact, especially at a local level.”
From roles such as a Davis Human Relations Commission student representative to Yolo County Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee commissioner, Garcia is an active participant in levels of democracy across Yolo County.
And when there isn’t already space for someone of her age — she creates it.
Garcia founded the Yolo County Youth Climate Action Board in 2024 as a junior. The project, for which she helped raise $15,000 in grant funding, powers youth-led sustainability initiatives.
A mouthpiece for her generation, Garcia also has her own radio show on KDRT 95.7 in Davis. Over the last two years, she has hosted guests like state senators, gubernatorial candidates and city council members.
“Having a young person at the other side of the interview space was really important to me,” said Garcia, who is headed to UC Berkeley this fall.
“I just felt like all these conversations that were happening weren’t taking into account the needs of a younger generation.”
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.