Summer Camp Campaign: Santiago Burgos finds inspiration to sing

The teenager came back from UCLA Unicamp confident enough to
form a show choir at his school.

By Sophia Lee

LOS ANGELES — Santiago Burgos has many fond memories of summer
camp, but he most distinctly remembers the campfires. Every night
over the crackle of the fire, all the campers would burst out in
songs together.

“In camp, everyone just sings out loud,” Santiago said. “Not
everyone can sing, but they can shout. It’s such an open
environment.”

The 16-year-old junior at Dr. Olga Mohan High School in L.A.,
mellow-eyed with dark, longish hair that curls down to his collar,
calls himself a shy individual who was once afraid to open up to
people.

But Santiago said that attending two week-long camps operated by
UCLA UniCamp, a nonprofit organization linking the university with
the community, has instilled in him a fresh stream of courage. In
fact, it was this new sense of determination that finally gave him
the guts to start his own high school show choir.

“I wanted to re-create that environment [from camp],” said
Santiago.