Spring — 2006

Oscar Hurtado

Teaching/MEChA

“I think being a teacher will let me help as many people as possible in my community: South Central LA.”

Oscar Hurtado knows the battlefields of South Central in his very bones. It’s his community, his barrio, and these are his people—caught in cycles of hope, despair, violence, and alienation. But Oscar is determined that it need not be this way. “A lot of people that come to this country don’t speak English, and that makes it very difficult to get anywhere with their lives. My parents went through that when we moved here from Mexico, and so did I. And what I’d like to do in teaching is to give other people like us—especially at a very young age—more confidence in their English. This way, they’ll feel better about going to school, and they’ll want a college education.” And Oscar sees a lot of positive changes in Latino attitudes towards college.

“I always had the support of my parents to continue studying because they had no opportunity to do that in Mexico. And I see this happening as well with a lot of Latinos. They want that college education, as opposed to just going to work or dropping out.”

Oscar’s day begins at 3:15 in the morning when he goes to his full-time job. Then he haunts the full range of night classes at SMC, where he reports, “There’s a lot of working people there who are more mature. And they take their education very seriously. And I encourage a lot of these people to come to SMC because a lot of what happens here is made just for them.” And if you do come to SMC—maybe even a little nervously, at first—Oscar wants you to know that help is there when you need it. “I think anyone who comes here should join up with a club like MEChA, whose members act as guides to the school and recommend courses and instructors. And when you really need help, all you have to do is ask.”

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