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YouTube Video Catapults UCSD Senior and Daughter to Internet, TV Stardom

Ioana Patringenaru | Jan. 18, 2011

From single dad to YouTube sensation, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind for Jorge Narvaez, a UC San Diego ethnic studies major and amateur musician. A video he posted on the popular website of himself singing with his oldest daughter has been viewed nearly 3.6 million times. Last week, Narvaez drove his two daughters, ages 6 and 2, to Los Angeles, to tape segments on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and one of Ryan Seacrest's shows. He also started fielding calls from national television networks.

“I’m excited because I know my kids have a lot to offer,” Narvaez said. “My kids are really talented.

He spoke during an interview at his apartment at the Mesa student housing on campus. A reporter from the San Diego Union-Tribune had just left. A few days before, a crew from E!, the entertainment channel, had turned his home into a studio, installing lights and applying make up on Narvaez.

Wednesday evening, the UCSD senior donned yellow kitchen gloves to do the dinner dishes while 2-year-old Eliana finished her chicken and munched on a pickle and 6-year-old Alexa watched “Hansel and Gretel” streaming on a wide-screen TV. Narvaez’s apartment was filled with clutter familiar to many parents. Alexa’s playhouse occupied a corner of the living room. A baby doll was resting on the couch.

“I’m so excited,” Alexa said. “I love to go on a TV show. It’s my favorite.”

UCSD student Jorge Narvaez poses with daughters Alexa and Eliana.

Narvaez’s rise to YouTube fame started Dec. 31, when he uploaded a video of him and Alexa singing “Home,” by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. Alexa pours her heart into the song, belting out the chorus

Sharpe’s manager found the song while surfing the Web for fan videos and posted it on the band’s website. Soon, Ryan Seacrest followed suit. The video then made it on mainstream news websites.

Narvaez phone started ringing off the hook. He fielded calls from Ellen, Ryan Seacrest, MSNBC, ABC and CNN, among others. Seacrest's show airs today. The Ellen segment is set to air later in the week, probably on Wednesday. In addition to last week’s trip to Los Angeles, he might fly out to New York to do a segment on CNN. Also, hundreds of people started friending him on Facebook, turning him into what the social network defines as a public figure.

It’s a long way from Narvaez childhood in the San Diego neighborhood of Clairemont. His life story is so extraordinary that he was chosen as one of the faces of UCSD for one of the campus’ 50th anniversary ad campaigns.

Narvaez grew up with his mother and three of his siblings, after his parents separated. In middle school, he faced a stark choice: become a gang member or try his best to excel in school. He chose the latter.

Narvaez credits Reality Changers, a nonprofit organization founded by UCSD alumnus Chris Yanov, for his success. The group aims to help inner city youth get into college by providing scholarships, tutoring, activities and all kinds of support. Narvaez’s mother had been encouraging too, but the family was poor, so there was only so much help she could provide, Narvaez said. He was one of Reality Changers’ four founding members. When Yanov first saw him, he said: “You look like a match waiting to be lit.”

Narvaez buckled down, studied and graduated from Madison High School with a 3.8 grade-point average. It’s all the more remarkable that Alexa was born while he was still in high school. He was offered a free ride to UCSD. “Of course, I said yes,” he said.

Narvaez in an ad for UCSD's 50th anniversary.

The transition wasn’t easy. Narvaez struggled with his new environment. He had never had a room of his own. Now, he had a home for him and Alexa. Juggling parenthood and UCSD’s curriculum was another challenge. “I was dying,” Narvaez said. His GPA for his first quarter came in at just 1.3.

But Narvaez again rallied, just like he had in high school. He learned to manage his time better. Alexa got into the Early Childhood Education Center, UCSD’s day care and preschool program. Narvaez’s GPA climbed back to 3.6.

Narvaez is now applying to UCSD’s visual arts program, where he’d like to complete an MFA and doctorate. “Everything I need is right here,” he said. Ultimately, he’d like to become a professor. He even has his title figured out: socially conscious critical research professor of visual arts.

His interests gravitate around photography and immigration. He recently completed a photo shoot in Tijuana with a woman who had been deported, showing her despair and longing to come home. A few years ago, he took pictures of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Vice Chancellor Penny Rue for a project on women in positions of power.

At home, Narvaez is very much a doting father to Alexa and Eliana. He and the girls’ mother are separated, but they’re still close and work together to set up their children’s schedules from week to week. He emphasizes the arts, music, family and community, he said. He sings to his daughters every night before their go to sleep when they stay with him.

Since their sudden rise to fame, he’s been trying to get Alexa to remain humble, he said. “I had to teach her to stop thinking that she’s better than the other kids,” he said.  Alexa now attends Field Elementary School in Clairemont, where Narvaez went as a child. She landed the same teacher that taught Narvaez in kindergarten.

“Everyone knows she’s a superstar,” Narvaez said.


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