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Michael Padilla\u2019s world changed the moment he met Gwendolyne Dixon\u2014or Ms. Dixon, as he knew her back then.<\/p>\n
As an aspiring actor on the verge of becoming freshman at Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, Padilla was taking summer classes in 2012 when he revealed that he enjoyed acting. That caught the attention of his teacher, Dixon\u2014a former independent film producer, who has family ties in the entertainment industry\u2014and forever changed their relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn every situation, you have to take that risk, because if you don\u2019t you won\u2019t know the outcome,\u201d said Padilla. \u201cThat\u2019s something few teachers will ever tell you. And I\u2019m grateful Ms. Dixon did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after their summer class, Dixon became Padilla\u2019s life coach, guiding, mentoring and inspiring the young thespian towards a career dedicated to acting and film production.<\/p>\n
Before graduating this year from Evergreen Valley, Padilla was asked to participate in a statewide Spanish-language short film campaign called Gracias Maestros produced by the California Lottery, which featured stories of educators and the students they\u2019ve helped.\u00a0 <\/span>Padilla\u2014a Mexican-American native of San Jose\u2014saw an opportunity to express his gratitude toward his mentor.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I would be able to write this in a letter,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cThis was a way to show her what she has done for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing that i\u2019ve heard is that you take the opportunity that other people aren\u2019t going for,\u201d he added. \u201cI took it right away. And I liked the idea of Gracias Maestros, thanking a teacher, a documentary about my passion. And it was a great way to talk about different issues that I wanted to cover. Being a filmmaker for minority groups, there\u2019s so many issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Padilla\u2019s long-term goals include addressing issues in the LGBT community through film, as well as Hollywood\u2019s overall lack of diversity. Having already written scripts and screenplays that focus on the immigrant experience, Padilla hopes to eventually start a production company or talent agency that focuses on communities and actors of color.<\/p>\n But he\u2019s adamant that films and projects need to have a message. He draws inspiration from Selena Gomez, one of the executive producers of the popular Netflix show \u201c13 Reasons Why,\u201d which addresses the issue of teen suicide. And in an age where actors, directors and producers of color are gaining mainstream recognition for major motions pictures, such as \u201cMoonlight,\u201d Padilla is motivated that much more.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody wants to be scared to try something new,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cWith all these films coming out, it\u2019s so moving to know that it\u2019s ok to create these things and show them. And I praise and congratulate the people who did. \u201cMoonlight\u201d won the Oscars and was a great success, and I\u2019m pretty sure the director and writer of that film were probably going through that phase of, \u2018Should I really do this?\u2019 And it\u2019s great that they did that. It\u2019s great for us, because we are the new change. It\u2019s not unheard of anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Dixon helped him overcome a similar fear.<\/p>\n Her words to Padilla as he was on the verge of graduating and uncertain as to what to where to go or what to take in college, were simple.<\/p>\n \u201cFear of failure can be crippling. As a result, you can choose not to pursue your dreams, but you will never fulfill it if you do not take the risk,\u201d Dixon told Padilla. Moved by her words, he even asked her to write them.<\/p>\n \u201cShe told me, \u2018Take what you like. You can\u2019t just know what you want. You can\u2019t just go online on a university web page and say, this is what I want to do,\u2019\u201d Padilla said, who will be attending community college to study film production. \u201cShe\u2019s just really helpful. It\u2019s not even acting in general. It has to do with just being a great teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [su_carousel source=”media: 34289,34290,34291″ limit=”60″ link=”lightbox” target=”blank” width=”800″ height=”540″ responsive=”no” items=”1″] Michael Padilla\u2019s world changed the moment he met Gwendolyne Dixon\u2014or Ms. Dixon, as he knew her back then. As an aspiring actor on the verge of becoming freshman at Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, Padilla was taking summer classes in 2012 when he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":34290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,7],"tags":[14014,14012,14010,14008,14006],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-34288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news","tag-california-lottery","tag-evergreen-valley-high-school","tag-gracias-maestros","tag-gwendolyne-dixon","tag-michael-padilla","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n