Carlos Hernandez

Student

“Find a good counselor, be honest with them, make some good friends, and never, never give up on your education, no matter what.”

Carlos Hernandez is qualified to offer the above advice about never giving up. “I was in a really bad car wreck that put me in physical therapy for three months,” he recalls. “I had a full load of credits and I was doing real well and then, Poof! I had to drop out the whole semester.” But Carlos has healed, he’s back at SMC, and feeling good about his future in graphic arts.

“I’m taking art and psychology and I plan to open my own business in graphic design and cartooning,” says Carlos who came here with his family from Guatemala. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been drawing pictures. And I think I got started watching my dad. I peeked over his shoulder one time, and he was drawing a landscape of Guatemala. I’d never seen anyone concentrate like that on anything, and I wondered how he could be making something so beautiful on that blank piece of paper.”

Carlos says that having allies at SMC is important. One of them is Patrick Norambuena, who he studies and learns about life with. Another is Linda Lopez, art instructor. “I think she’s great and she can really get the best results out of a whole class of people,” says Carlos. But Carlos also plans to provide a little inspiration of his own. “My brother has been a straight A student since birth,” he explains. “But he fell in love and dropped out, so I’m trying to slowly show him all I’m doing in college to get him back on track. I’ll kind of have to trick him,” he says with a laugh. “But once he’s back in, I bet he’ll pass me in a minute.”

Carlos looks down the road and sees a possible career in animation. “I’d love to have my own animated series on cable,” he says. “But I want it to be really good, really different. I don’t think the world needs another Beavis and Butthead.”

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