Being the first member of his family to go to college Jesus Mancilla, a student at Salt Lake Community College, always thought there was a lot expected of him.
Since neither his older brother nor sister went, there was a lot of pressure for him to be the one. Mancilla was put into honors programs all through elementary, junior high and high school, so his parents could make sure he made successful decisions.
Mancilla excelled in his honors programs and was able to grasp concepts easily. There was pressure for him to do well, but despite his parents push for him to further his education, Mancilla’s dream to become a teacher is ultimately what leads him to go to college.
“My true reason for going to college is for myself not for my parents. It’s so I can do something that I’m passionate about for the rest of my life,” says Mancilla.
By eleventh grade, Mancilla knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life; he wanted to teach.
He began to notice he could explain topics better than most students in his classes, especially in subjects like history, math and science.
Many students would try to find him at lunch just to ask questions about homework. Mancilla helped his classmates better understand topics in class. This is when he realized how much he enjoyed helping his fellow peers.
“I really feel passionate when it comes to explaining things to others because I feel like I’m making a difference in their learning,” says Mancilla.
Mancilla plans to teach either science or math.
He likes these subjects because there’s one way to answer the question, unlike English where there can be multiple answers and meanings to a question.
Mancilla is also interested in teaching psychology.
Ever since he was younger, Mancilla has been fascinated by human behavior and why people act a certain way.
He’s interested in feelings, why things make people feel a certain way and how individuals express their feelings differently.
“I like individuality and looking at why one person is different from another; personality is awesome to me,” says Mancilla.
Mancilla currently works at Sam’s Club selling cell phones and likes to keep an upbeat environment while he’s there. Sometimes he’ll even dance to music while waiting for customers to come by. Even though he has a lot of fun, he hopes that once he gets his bachelor’s degree, he can find a job teaching.
Mancilla plans to further his education at the University of Utah after finishing up some pre-requisites for his major at SLCC. He might even start taking classes at the U of U by next semester. Once he finds a job teaching, he then plans to get his master’s degree and maybe even a doctorate degree.
“We’ll see where life takes me,” says Mancilla.
