Luis Meza says Gateway Technical College gave him the support and opportunities to gain the skills for a career he loves. He also credits Gateway’s work with area four-year colleges as a way to provide even more possibilities for its graduates.
“What I liked about Gateway was the sheer amount of opportunities.”
— Luis Meza, Gateway Technical College graduate
Luis Meza followed the same path as many high school graduates.
He felt he had few options after high school in terms of finding a college he could afford and had resigned himself to the workforce. He started working as an electrical assembler, though, and realized he liked it.
Then he found out about Gateway Technical College — and his life, and career path, changed dramatically.
“I realized there were some people at work who had gone to Gateway and I was interested,” said Meza. “I found out about the STEM Scholars program, applied and got in.
“People at work were congratulating me, my supervisor even hugged me. I felt I was going to start doing something with my life. I always wanted to go to college and didn’t want to pass up this opportunity.”
Now a few years later, Meza has already earned his Electrical Engineering Technician associate degree. He’s transferred the credits earned at Gateway to attaining a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and entered the four-year college as a junior.
Meza said Gateway’s rigorous education prepared him well for the workforce and to transfer on to MSOE. He worked in an electronics manufacturing company while he earned his Gateway degree, and says the skills he learned in the classroom were exactly what he needed in the real-world workplace.
“There would be times when I would have a lesson one day and apply it at work the very next day,” says Meza. “I also learned a lot of soft skills at Gateway. I didn’t realize how important they were, but I became confident after gaining those skills. Those might not show up on a degree, but I use them every single day at work.”
Meza said he also gained opportunities to learn, grow and develop his professional skills in many ways.
“What I liked about Gateway was the sheer amount of opportunities,” he said. “There were so many opportunities — opportunities to learn, opportunities to attend a conference, for professional development, to connect with other students.”
Meza said the SC Johnson STEM Scholars Pathway program helped to make his education possible at Gateway and MSOE.
“The big benefit is financial,” he said. “The scholarship provided full tuition for me at Gateway. I had all my classes paid for, any technology I needed.”
For more information about Gateway Technical College, please visit gtc.edu.
