- I'm Gary Walker-Roberts.
I am at Los Medanos College alum.
The reason why I didn't go to college right after high school
is because of financial struggles.
And I was really finding out who I was, my personal identity.
So, my best bet was to get into the employment world,
and so I started in cosmetics.
I would always drive by Los Medanos College on my way home,
because it's my community college.
And I always had this inkling to be successful and to go back
and get a degree.
I met with the counselors, and I got a Pathway Program of Success
to be able to pick out what night classes I could take,
and then also subsidize it with the online classes.
We had some of the same professors
that teach at some of the big-name universities
in the Bay Area, and they knew who I was,
I knew who they were, and they just love to teach.
The passion just came through.
Being a part of the community,
I really wanted to get some great experience
with civic leadership, so I joined the government,
and with that, becoming president of the student body.
I have a big love for our veterans,
and I'm married to a veteran.
He retired from the Marine Corps after 24 years.
Now that we have all of our veterans
coming back to the community colleges to get that education,
it's very important that we have
the accessibility and the equity.
On campus, a lot of the veterans were voicing their opinions
about not having of veterans resource center.
And we had a wonderful appreciation dinner,
and the outcomes that were from that dinner is that we are now
having our first veterans resource center on campus,
launching in spring 2016.
I got my degree in behavioral and social sciences,
and that was going to give me a pathway
to transfer to CSU East Bay, for their ethnic studies, sexuality,
and gender identity.
But I did return back to brush up on some skills.
It's very important in California to understand
and to speak Spanish.
So, I am one class away from my Spanish certificate.
It's helping me to navigate the space of international travel
and international business.
But I also have my eye on being that civic leader,
whether it's in our community or beyond.
I certainly am a testimonial to sit here and advocate
for the community college system in California.