Jesse Garcia, RGRLL

Jesse Garcia, RGRLL

Hi, my name is Jesse Garcia and my birth name is Jesus Garcia, but I prefer Jesse. I got a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Spanish and English Literature from the University of San Francisco in 1999. I recently graduated from Cal State Long Beach a Masters of Arts degree in French and Francophone studies. When I was growing up in Boyle Heights, it was very tough neighborhood; there were a lot of gangs, a lot of drugs and somehow I managed to escape all of that. I thank my parents who really helped to drive the theme of education to heart. I became interested in French when I joined the Peace Corps in 1999 after receiving my Bachelor’s Degree and I was sent to West Africa. I taught English there for about 3 years and then I interned with a non-profit in public health and the HIV and AIDS education sector. I then worked with the World Food Program for about 7 years, and that decade long experience really shaped me and it informs my interest in French and Francophone studies. The teaching experience that I gained here helped immeasurably to help get me a position at a top-rate doctoral program because this program will require me to teach and there’s no training involved for these teachers. You’re expected to come with the skills already learned so that you can jump right in to teaching an undergraduate course in Spanish or French or writing and that would not have been possible if I had not come to Cal State Long Beach.