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I am the proud Mexican American son of immigrant parents from Mexico and the oldest of four children. In the mid-1970s, through San Diego Unifieds Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program, I was bused from my diverse east San Diego neighborhood of Encanto to Pershing Junior High School, then Patrick Henry High School, in a more affluent, predominantly White neighborhood. I benefited from quality education in advanced classes, and I developed strong college prep skills, making me the only Latino valedictorian in the class of 1982. I was accepted to one of the top science and engineering colleges in the country, Harvey Mudd College.

I was a first-generation college student who didnt know anyone who went to college from my neighborhood. I survived by instinct, and later earned a masters degree in electrical engineering from University of Southern California.

It was that survival instinct which helped me again during my career as a systems engineer for a number of years in the space technology industry in Los Angeles. However, marriage, followed by my daughters birth, led to my relocation back home to San Diego in 1994. Thats when I transitioned into academia, realizing the impact I could make on students who, like me, were missing some key components.

I created a new way of teaching in higher education. I did it to revolutionize and transform student lives! Its a culture for learning which already exists in every college and university, including having a mindset for learning (most important!), and knowing how to approach the learning. It sounds simple, but its not always simple because students face different challenges before they get to college.

I call it educational wealth. Its needed in order for students to apply it and succeed. Yet, it is also hidden curriculum, which means the majority of students, especially first-generation college students, are in the dark with regards to the learning culture when they begin their college studies. The good news is that, as director of the San Diego City College Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program, I have explicitly defined and am now instilling the learning culture to empower my MESA students to help them create their own success and its working.

From 2010 to 2023, we have had 499 transfers; 46 percent of them to CSU universities, including SDSU, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona; 44 percent to UC universities, including UCSD, UCLA and UC Berkeley; 3 percent to private institutions, including the University of San Diego and USC; and 5 percent to schools in 17 states outside of California, including Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University.

MESA is an exemplary academic support model for students planning to transfer to four-year universities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors, and the role of MESA director was ideal for me because I share a personal kinship with my students. I too was that kid, i.e., first-generation in college, economically disadvantaged and underrepresented in STEM, My personal experience motivated me as a MESA director; however, my lightbulb moment occurred in 2009, when I discovered the findings in the study Defining College Readiness from the Inside Out: First-Generation College Student Perspectives,in which the researchers interviewed successful first-generation college students, and succeeded in identifying 10 important factors necessary for college readiness and success, including understanding the college system, college standards and the culture of college.

At that moment, I made a commitment to transform my MESA Program by introducing learning culture to increase the success of my students, and this was the beginning of the learning culture revolution. My students may fit the profile of students least likely to succeed, but, empowered with the learning culture, they excel at the university, with some earning doctorate degrees at top graduate schools, on their way to becoming successful professionals, including Katya Echazarreta, who recently became the first Mexican-born and youngest female in space!

I am currently sharing the learning culture resources and training videos with local colleges and universities and anyone else who wants them, at no charge. I have made it my mission to transform the lives of students everywhere who wish to succeed in the bright light of the learning culture! Visit turning-on-the-lights.com to learn more.

Alvarez is director of the San Diego City College Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program, and lives in Allied Gardens.

Originally Published: July 15, 2024 at 5:35 p.m.

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Opinion: I was a successful engineer but realized something was missing - The San Diego Union-Tribune