Editor's note: For five weeks, we are profiling two young people each week who are making a difference in the South Bend region. Whether they are already in the spotlight or escaping much public attention for their efforts, these young people are putting in the work to make their neighbors' lives better. Check them out every Sunday and Tuesday online and Monday and Wednesday in print.
SOUTH BEND — Business owner. Mentor. Insurance salesman. Real estate broker.
When an 18-year-old man tells about his current plans to start a church, become a financial planner and start college, he is someone you may want to get to know.
Ezequias Calleros is a tall, engaging presence as he talks about his goals, accomplishments and philosophies.
Starting his own tax preparation firm at the age of 15, Calleros keeps his soft-spoken confidence in check, speaking as if his next challenge is just around the corner.
"In my family business, I love growth, and seeing things grow from the ground up, more than anything, helping people," he said. "Everything that I do, I'm able to help somebody grow from that. Life insurance is a good example."
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Days by appointment
Ezequias is a person who works through appointments. Four days of insurance and taxes comprise his "business side."
But he has a yearning to teach, and Mondays and Tuesdays in his schedule are set aside for education.
"I have a heart when it comes to teaching people," he said. The American Dream Project, a program run by his sister, Alexandra Calleros, where he does marketing with an agency run with family members, is the place where he serves as the student coordinator. He does such things as SAT prep, college applications, FAFSAs and other tasks at his sister's organization.
He said he tries to make the hourlong class a fun experience, hosting trivia sessions and bringing in pizza so it does not feel like school.
"When new students come, I notice they are all so shy, but by the middle of spring, when we're about to be let out for summer, I notice they all are socializing with each other, they all know each other," he said. "They're all used to it by now."
A parents' inspiration
Calleros' mother always wanted him and his sister to be ahead in education. By kindergarten, he was reading at a second-grade level.
After attending Darden Elementary for primary school, he was home-schooled along with his sister, Alexandra, who was seven years older than him. Eziquias would have most of his education through online sources that included the Ivy Academy, a program where stuents in high school can earn college credit. All classes are transfered into an Ivy Tech course equivalent. Students can go to Ivy Tech for classes or do them, as Ezequias did, online.
After short stints at the Purdue Polytechnical High School, he then enrolled in the South Bend Virtual School, where he completed his requirements for high school in February.
Elisa Calleros, Ezequias' mother, said she was heavy on discipline for both her on and daughter, never taking 'no' for an answer.
"As parents, we were consistent with discipline, and mediocracy was never acceptable in our household," Elisa Calleros said. "They always were taught to seek the answers."
She said she prayed to God for a son for years after her daughter was born, and she promised that he would be raised in honor of God. As for Ezequias' plans to be pastor of a church, his mother said he will be prepared for leadership by his work ethic and success.
Alexandra says it was her mother and father who inspired her and Ezequias to achieve success, but also to give back to the community through volunteerism.
"It was a blessing," Alexandra said of being home-schooled with her brother. "We spent most of our mornings completing our school lessons, and for the remainder of the day, my mom would drop us off at volunteer locations."
"Our school work and our grades were always at the forefront," Alexandra said. "She always made sure we were doing well academically, and we were then given volunteer tasks, and that is how we got so involved in the community."
He was set on going to the University of Notre Dame in February, but last August he said he "had a switch in my mind" and he felt the call of God to become a pastor and start a church.
But churches take time and money to build, and he said he asked his guidance counselor, Anne Coglianese, to set his last semester of clases in Virtual School, and he completed them by February.
Ezequias said that gave him the time to enroll in real estate school with Cressy & Everett. Also, the time he finished his high school, he studied for a two-week period in January and qualified in Indiana to sell insurance.
"I do have a lot of free time, which is a shock to a lot of people and to myself," he said.
Ezequias says three things motivate him: God, his family and competition.
"God is at the center of everything," he said. "When I got baptized, I decided I was going to give my life to God, and everything I did was going to be for the growth of the church."
But the competitive juices flow throughout Ezequias. "I love competition. Anything that can be competitive," he said, "let's say, finances, you have to be the best of the best."
A young volunteer
"The person who started me on this path since I was a baby was my mom," he said. She always made sure Ezequias was ahead of schedule at milestones. "She was setting me up for success, I guess," he said with a laugh. "She always pushed me to do my best."
His volunteerism during his home-schooled years opened his eyes to the point where he learned people are different, "and there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "It opened my eyes to be compassionate."
He then worked at Reins of Life, therapeutic horse riding. But only for one day, as the horses scared him too much.
He then went to volunteer at Harrison School, where he said he could speak Spanish to people who were in the ESL classes.
"Not all teachers are bilingual, and some students come in from homes where there is only Spanish, and they watch cartoons all in Spanish," he said. "My first day I felt like I really communicated, but I was about their age and some of them thought I was one of them, but I had my volunteer badge."
He was volunteering Tuesdays and Thursdays every week from age 11 to 16. His longtime work was recognized in 2023 with a volunteer award from the Boys & Girls Club.
He saw children he worked with go from kindergarten to the fifth grade. He even met up with a family through his tax firm who knew Ezequias through the Boys & Girls Club. "He called to have his taxes done, and they recognized me during the tax appointment," he said.
His life, his terms
Ezequias is so busy, but he says he would not have it any other way.
"I've never seen myself as anything different. I've always done things on my own," he said. "Just do my own thing, and people always say 'when do you have time for this or that?'"
He's not gone to prom. No high school field trips, but he says he stays so busy. "And I believe being busy is better than not being busy," he said. "Having time to grow when you're young is better to prosper later."
He said a lot of the socialization he may have passed up sems to be filled by the people he works with in his duties. "While I am their teacher, they are also able to talk to me, and they all are also about my age," Ezequias said. "They all think I'm older than them, but I tell them I'm only 18."
College, then church
After high school, Ezequias plans to enroll at Liberty University for online classes. The reasons for his life and his desire to become part of a church comes from his mother's desire for her son.
"My main goal is to help build a church and help people find God," he said. "That's always been my end goal. It was my mom's prayer, but it became my heart's desire."
Since he has about two years of college from his Ivy Academy credits, he will take about two years to have a bachelor's degree in religion, then he wants to pursue master of divinity degree. He also sees work toward an eventual law degree, he said.
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