SACRAMENTO — Hollywood could hardly have scripted a better story.

The opening acts of Sergio Garcia’s life find him living in the Northern California city of Chico, brought to the college town as a toddler by a family from the Mexican state of Michoacán seeking a better life. He flourishes in school and dreams of becoming a lawyer to fight injustice. He collects cans and walnuts to pay for the education that will make it all happen.