Student Interview

Life as Luiz Leon

I had the privilege of recently interviewing Luiz Leon in my Wednesday English Composition class at Oxnard College. He had a great personality and was very confident in answering my questions. I learned that he was born on August 3, 1988 in Oxnard. His parents raised him, his 4 sisters and his only brother. Luiz attended Larson Elementary, Blackstock Jr. High, graduated in 2006 from Hueneme High School and mentioned he has been attending Oxnard College since 2006. At the end of this semester he will be graduating with an A.S in Liberal Arts. What motivates him to continue his education is to know that it will lead to a better job and greater opportunities. One motto he currently follows to accomplish things is to “not be lazy”. At the moment he attends OC Monday through Wednesday from 7 P.M. to 9:50 P.M. He likes that OC is so close to his house but does wish they would offer more classes.

He being able to live at home allows him to not have to juggle school, homework and family. Although, sometimes he would like to do other things but can’t because school can cause him to stress out. I asked if he had a mentor in his life and he answers with a smile “Yes, my dad. He always pushed me to do better”. When I asked how his culture affected his decision to attend college he said “I come from a Mexican background with parents that always worked outdoors. They pushed us to reach for more because they wanted more for us”.  

In 5 – 10 years he definitely hopes to have a good paying job with stability, a house, a family of his own and plans to do this all in Oxnard.