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Student Success Profiles

Student Success Profiles

Meet Maria Garcia Alvarez

Thanks to Laney’s HVAC program, Maria found a new future and career that is both rewarding and stable. “I was working in the construction industry, and the Recession hit–and I lost my job. I wanted to get trained on something that could resist anything, that’s why I chose this program. Through my experience in the construction industry, I felt this program actually would provide a recession-proof job. Heating and cooling are always necessary, the industry doesn’t stop because the recession hits. ” After graduating, Maria joined the Energy Management team at UC Berkeley, and she later was promoted to Asset Manager.


William_Head_Shot_72Meet William Escobar

“As a senior in high school, I was looking for a program to meet my school’s graduation requirement.  My mother, who was a Laney College student at the time, heard about opportunities generated through the ECT program.  I was encouraged to apply and am grateful for the wisdom Nick Kyriakopedi, the ECT Department Chair, shared with me on the day I met him.  I am also thankful to Mr. Crabtree, the Dean, who allowed me to attend the full-time evening program as an underage full-time high school student.  I excelled through the program with an A average and landed a job at Carrier Corporation.

I am now a top paid Journeyman technician with a prosperous career ahead.  As a result, I helped my mother to retire and support my younger sister who will graduate from college this year.  I purchased my first house in 2009 at the age of 20.  This year, I was blessed with the opportunity to purchase a second house as a birthday present for my mother.  It is astonishing to reflect back to just half a decade ago when the three of us were surviving on welfare after my father passed away. My life’s story is only beginning.  I look forward eventually to becoming part of the outstanding faculty at Laney.  My mission as an instructor is to inspire a vision of success in my students and the belief that their vision can soon become their reality.  I know from experience because it happened to me.”


Meet Jasmine Shepard

Jasmine is an engineer at Energy Solutions, a professional and engineering services firm in Oakland. Prior to this, she was an Energy Analyst at the Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), a non-profit specializing in conducting energy audits and energy analyses of multifamily buildings, evaluating energy savings, and designing energy upgrades. She had also worked as a Data Analyst at Solar City and spent over 3 years in the nonprofit energy efficiency and renewable sector.

About her time in the Environmental Control Technology Program (ECT) at Laney College, Jasmine says, “I learned a lot of things in engineering school but I learned how to do so much more at Laney. Going to Laney helped me love learning again. I greatly enjoyed my time as a student and lab assistant in the ECT department. Laney really showed me how important community colleges are for such diverse groups, college graduates really have a lot to gain by furthering their education.”

You can succeed, too…Build a Green Future at Laney College!
Contact Laney’s ECT Department at 510-464-3292.