A classic California story of Latinos/Mexicans making the best of their situation by via attaining a formal education through the UC system. Congrats Rene!!!

Monterey and Pacific Grove and Carmel are perhaps the MOST scenic, beautiful communities in the U.S. (……and I’ve been everywhere).

"You just have to be a grain in the sand that is shinier than the other ones."

I loved this story! I’m so proud to be 🇲🇽 and from this area and congrats to Rene for all his hard work paying off. This will hopefully inspire my students to not give up and chase their dreams. Thanks David for sharing his story!

One of the best cities on earth! I lived nearby several years ago. David definitely captured the high points. And I think that octopus has a crush on the man who feeds him....

An age-old quip is *"Carmel by the sea" (the city's motto) and Monterey by the smell"* . I don't mean that to be totally sarcastic but it is a shortcut to history as Monterey was massive in fishing and the boats, harvesting and packaging of anchovies, sardines, and even whaleling back in the day definitely made the cove a smelly place. When I lived in San Francisco for a while I took a summer place in Pacific Grove which is situated between Monterey and Carmel and I think it was the best place to live as it juts out into the ocean and on my morning run I can see hunchback whales. I would even be out on my SUP and whales would breach near me .... not really that close but close enough that I would grip my paddlelboard and hang on for dear life! I ended up keeping that summer place through the winter months! 48 hours at the Monterey Bay Aquarium alone is not enough and actually nearly have as as members we were invited to spend the night in sleeping bags and it was one of the most phenomenal memories of my travels!

How lucky am i to own a beautiful home here on The Monterey Bay. I am so blessed! 🙏

Frequent visitor. Love it.

Love this story!!!! I love the Octopus in this story!!! 🥰🥰

Such a great story!

Another beautiful immigration story. We’re stronger because of people like Rene’.

One of my favorite places in the world!!!

Great! We need more positive coverage of real America.

Love this Surprise Cities report. David Begnaud you rock. Rene epitomized resilience and good upbringing. I want to re-visit Monterrey now.

It’s tranquility ❤

What a great place I get to call home! I love the aquarium cam where you can watch the animals on live feeds.

What a beautiful story! What an amazing person! Thank you for sharing

I live close to an hour away and sometimes I take that for granted. I love Monterey and their beaches. And everything it has to offer

I was one of the volunteers that raised the baby otters before the Aquarium opened to the public. The cute little pups would crawl out of their enclosure and onto my sleeping bag during the overnight shifts. The local cities are indeed very beautiful but too expensive for many of us that live around there. I've never been back to the Aquarium since it opened because it's just too pricey, but I do have some great memories.

I love Monterrey, ca. lived there for 24 years.

calamari = squid; pulpo = octopus; both delicious, but I feel guilty eating pulpo because they’re so intelligent 😟!

Great story. Now if all the young people in our country could appreciate and be as thankful as this young man for our freedom and blessings. Proud American right there.

Love Monterey!

I can't get over that shot of the two seals on the rocks! Too funny.

Yay! You found your shiney grain!

love living here!

Great job Rene! Thanks @cbs for this story!❤

We love Rene!

Rene was smart to leave the dump in LA. Look at how he thrived! 🤗

I consider anyone who can pass on their passion to another person to be a SUCCESS!!

Yeah. I’ll never eat calamari again. Wonderful report. Amazing. Inspiring.

I have stopped eating octopus for years now. They are beautiful creatures.😊

Love this area..they should've also did the whale watching tour ...breathtaking😎👍🏽❤🐳🐋🦭🐬

Love this story and thank you for highlighting a beautiful natural aquarium and would now like to visit Monterrey.

Love this ❤❤❤

My hometown!

CBS is best with shows like this staying off politics.

David is such a great storyteller

Great story!

Great story

Nice story David!!! The Octopus and Rene’s passion… Did you just pass up an opportunity for kayaking, snorkeling & scuba diving? These would have added to story

❤❤❤

The "Tako" is apparently smarter than dogs!

What a great story - and the colors in the video are so vibrant. So blessed to be able to call this my home!

Octopuses is the plural

I'd move if I could 😂😂😂😂🎉🎉

Great to see Monterey featured. So much better than Big Sur (no offense). Been there many times, but I still learned something from this video.

Monterrey also has great food

nice

Blech. Cheesy sentiments from these journalists 🙄. Love the octopus!

Hell yeah viva la raza!!

Monterey. One r ..... per the USCG ! LOL 😅

Good - please don't eat calamari again. (Or chicken, please, given how they are raised.) Thanks

It’s a good time to start painting your roofs blue, just sayin’

He's found the real Namor

😂🎉

Yes! Go vegan everyone, would you? You might find it is the best thing you ever did for your health. You might love doing it. It's great ethically, and it helps the planet. Perhaps find a whole foods, plant-based diet. Thank you for this wonderful story.

ok?

Octopuses. Or potentially Octopodes. He did not look it up. Octopi is wrong it's ON THE DANG BILLBOARD IN THE AQUARIUM.

No more calamari for anyone STOP killing and eating these intelligent and friendly animals

You shouldn’t advertise yourselves, busses of immigrants may be dropped off soon?

Let’s be honest Monterey boring asf

Great, now more tourists will come and ruin our beautiful city.

Great town but you better be in the top 15% to live there.