Highlighting Excellence #4 Jimmy
Blue Collar Dreams
Hello everyone, I am proud to continue this series and to introduce you to my good friend and classmate, Jimmy Guzman. I first met Jimmy when he sat behind me in Dr. Klunk’s U.S Foreign Policy class. Over the past few years, Jimmy and I have worked together on Pacific’s Model United Nations (MUN) team. My favorite memory with Jimmy was in the spring of 2023, when we wandered the streets of Paris at night and plotted how to save the world from all its ailments.
Jimmy is majoring in International Relations and will be graduating this spring as a member of the class of 2024. Jimmy is a member of the aforementioned MUN team, where he’s represented our university in conferences both domestically and abroad. In addition, Jimmy is the treasurer of the Open Assembly for the School of International Studies (OASIS) and a member of the Mortar Board Honor Society (MBHS).
As a member of the MBHS, Jimmy volunteered with the Stockton Rotary, reading to school children; something he counts among his favorite moments at Pacific. His proudest achievements at Pacific include overcoming the stigma of being a non-traditional student, “building relationships with his classmates,” achieving a GPA worthy of Magna Cum Laude, and learning to play piano this semester.
When I asked Jimmy to describe what challenges he had overcome to be where he was today, Jimmy said he had not been in school for five or six years before returning in 2021. Before returning to school, Jimmy worked as a landscaper and in factories. He said that “getting back into a scholarly mindset was incredibly difficult, even something as simple as learning to read with the intent to write was a challenge that needed to be overcome.” However, Jimmy says that working blue collar jobs gave him “a number of advantages and perspectives I would have not had otherwise.”
Jimmy indicated that working with his hands gifted him with a deep appreciation of the work ethic necessary to achieve his goals. As a result, Jimmy treats school like a job. He says that to be successful at school “it is not just about going to class; it is about the work you put in outside of class.”
His jobs also taught him valuable lessons about what he wanted out of life. Jimmy realized that he was not content just working a 9-5, he wanted his life to have more purpose than that. To Jimmy, school was the path to get to where he was going, wherever that may be (U.C San Diego).
Finally, as our conversation ended, I asked Jimmy what advice he would offer to students. Speaking as someone who has often asked Jimmy for advice, I would recommend that readers listen when he speaks. Jimmy said that, “First and foremost, you should enter with an open mind and be ready to absorb the education that your professors so passionately impart upon you.”
If you would like to nominate someone for Highlighting Excellence, please reach out to z_baker1@u.pacific.edu.