José Esquivel

Student

“I’ve always been curious and tried to figure things out.”

The most formative years of José Esquivel’s life may have been when he was four and five years old. He spent two years in a hospital healing a head injury that he incurred as a baby. “I’d see all those machines in the hospital,” remembers José. “And when the electronic engineer came to repair them, I always watched.” As a teenager, José took this early interest in machines one step further and started to take radios apart to see what was inside.

Radios continue to play a major role in José’s life today. The SMC electronics major just recently opened his first business, installing car radios with a friend who also studies at SMC. “We work well together,” José says of the relationship.

Although only in his first semester of electronics courses, José has already used new skills. “I’ve learned a lot in just one semester,” he says. “Right now, I’m taking math for electronics. It’s great because you can advance by taking math and electronics together. This course has helped me a lot in my job.”

José credits his instructor Don Jameson for his progress. “He’s great. He doesn’t go on to the next chapter until he’s sure that all students understand the concept.”

José, who came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1987, plans to transfer to to Cal State Northridge and ultimately get a master’s degree in electrical engineering.

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