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- I'm Gary Walker-Roberts.

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I am at Los Medanos
College alum.

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The reason why I didn't go to
college right after high school

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is because of financial
struggles.

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And I was really finding out who
I was, my personal identity.

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So, my best bet was to get into
the employment world,

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and so I started in cosmetics.

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I would always drive by Los
Medanos College on my way home,

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because it's my community
college.

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And I always had this inkling to
be successful and to go back

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and get a degree.

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I met with the counselors, and I
got a Pathway Program of Success

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to be able to pick out what
night classes I could take,

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and then also subsidize it
with the online classes.

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We had some
of the same professors

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that teach at some of the
big-name universities

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in the Bay Area,
and they knew who I was,

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I knew who they were,
and they just love to teach.

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The passion just came through.

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Being a part of the community,

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I really wanted
to get some great experience

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with civic leadership,
so I joined the government,

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and with that, becoming
president of the student body.

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I have a big love
for our veterans,

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and I'm married to a veteran.

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He retired from the Marine
Corps after 24 years.

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Now that we have
all of our veterans

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coming back to the community
colleges to get that education,

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it's very important that we have

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the accessibility
and the equity.

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On campus, a lot of the veterans
were voicing their opinions

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about not having of veterans
resource center.

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And we had a wonderful
appreciation dinner,

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and the outcomes that were from
that dinner is that we are now

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having our first veterans
resource center on campus,

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launching in spring 2016.

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I got my degree in behavioral
and social sciences,

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and that was going to give
me a pathway

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to transfer to CSU East Bay, for
their ethnic studies, sexuality,

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and gender identity.

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But I did return back to brush
up on some skills.

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It's very important
in California to understand

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and to speak Spanish.

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So, I am one class away from my
Spanish certificate.

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It's helping me to navigate the
space of international travel

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and international business.

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But I also have my eye on being
that civic leader,

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whether it's in our community
or beyond.

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I certainly am a testimonial
to sit here and advocate

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for the community college system
in California.