Skyline Transfer Opportunity Center

Golda Gacutan was born in the Philippines and came to the United States at the age of three. She attended El Camino High School but left early as she had become a teen-age mother. She later completed her high school education at Baden Continuation High School. Golda came to Skyline in 1999 as a welfare mother of three children. Though at first frightened, as she had been away from school for over ten years, Golda discovered she loved college. Though being pressured by welfare to gain immediate job skills, she convinced her worker to allow her to study and earn a Paralegal Certificate. With the help of financial aid, the Disabled Students Program and Services (DSPS), CalWorks, and Educational Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS), Golda went on to earn two Associate degrees and maintain a 4.0 grade point average! Golda then went on to work in the Admissions Office at Skyline and continued her studies. She became a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and was nominated for the “USA Academic Scholarship” sponsored by USA Today. She was then selected as a Centennial Scholar, and named “All USA Academic First Team member”, as the top community college student in California, winning a full scholarship to the university of her choice.

While raising her three children, working in the Admissions Office, and pursuing her studies with excellence, Golda still finds time to volunteer in the community. She has worked with SITIKE Counseling Center in South San Francisco, which assists mothers who are substance abusers, and currently volunteers with the Homeless Advocacy Program. Now in Law School at Golden Gate University, she plans to work in the area of public interest law, which involves advocating for those who are disenfranchised. A wonderful coincidence is that Golda was an intern in the Law Office of fellow inductee, Michael Guingona!