Look at what our students are doing! See how our courses have helped these students stand out in the job market.
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Val Bernal
Val Bernal went back to school to study health science, and to help pay for school she found an on-campus job at Financial Aid. She quickly found she was enjoying her side projects with social media posts and creating flyers for Financial Aid than her classes. A Financial Aid Advisor suggested that she change her major to Digital Media.
“I enjoyed all of the DM classes and tried out a lot of different things – video production, CS coding, design animation, and more. I learned I really like the design aspect of the Digital Media profession,” says Val.
Val used these new skills to expand her projects with Financial Aid and graduated from Cabrillo with certificates, an A.S. degree, and importantly, a good portfolio...
Debbie Covarrubias
After receiving a Fine Art degree from U.C. Berkeley and running a successful t-shirt business, Deborah Covarrubias had two children and wanted to discover a new career path that supported family life and used her artistic background. Friends had long urged her to pursue graphic design, so she started exploring by taking some online courses. She discovered Cabrillo and found the instructors and classes immensely helpful and enjoyable.
“With no childcare, it was a bit crazy, so I appreciated the online options. I made it work and did well in my classes. Importantly, I built a strong enough portfolio to start applying for jobs,” says Deborah...
Dan Czyzyk
Dan Czyzyk was looking to take a break as an elementary school teacher and explore new interests to see where that might lead. He took a variety of classes at Cabrillo and ultimately took Introduction to Digital Media.
“Taking that class opened doors to so many different possibilities. I grasped that I could use my B.S. Degree in Marketing, learn new skills, and start a career designing and developing websites,” says Dan...
Caroline Kuspa
Caroline Kuspa’s first foray into digital media was a high school Photoshop course. She became excited by the ability to compile images and add effects to produce magazine and ad-worthy layouts. Additionally, she always admired product packaging, even as a little girl perusing drugstore shelves during errands.
A few years after finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Music, she worked in marketing and began building web, social media, and print graphics. In an effort to improve her skills and workflow, she enrolled in DM-1 and has since taken several other department courses in hopes of completing her Associates degree while working full-time...
Carleen Liu
Carleen Liu enjoyed working in a bakery with custom printed cookies, many of them with corporate logos. She realized that she could likely learn to create logos and other designs. When she decided to go back to school, she took Digital Media classes to see if she liked designing. She found the detailed classes interesting and spent three years taking different courses.
“Originally I was more interested in Photoshop but got really into Illustrator. Once you learn just the basics in Illustrator, it opens up so many options,” says Carleen...
Gary Marsh
Gary Marsh had long been interested in design and computers. He was hired on his 16th birthday at Dataphile, a small shop in Watsonville, selling Commodore Amigas when computers were still largely hobby machines and digital graphic design was just emerging. This work sparked his interest as he had always been interested in cartoons, cell animation, and stop motion Claymation, aspiring to be a Disney animator.
He started art classes at Cabrillo but then put his education on hold for his family and started a roots-based rockabilly band, The Chop Tops. The band evolved into an “awesome” full-time career spanning two decades with 7 releases, 30 U.S. tours, and 2 AU tours...
Gilbert Martinez
After leaving a four-year college due to an unpleasant experience, Gilbert decided to pursue his education once again 15 years later. He faced indecision with selecting a major and wished to discover a new passion that he could build into a career. A Cabrillo counselor encouraged him to take a counseling and guidance course to find the best direction for him.
“I took a lot of assessments in the class which were very revealing of what I liked doing, was good at, how I liked to work, and which work environments worked best for me,” says Gilbert.
Many of those assessments showed graphic design, which Gilbert hadn’t considered before, in the top five of good career fits. He was encouraged to move forward with graphic design and photography, which was also in the top five...
Tammy Sanchez
Tammy Sanchez was working towards an Arts Studio major, interested in illustration and animation. She saw that Cabrillo had an Animation Skills Certificate. She had already learned Illustrator and Photoshop while working toward her degree, so she was prepared for the Digital Media classes. The combination of her Art Studio classes and Digital Media classes was perfect for her.
“The classes were a bit intimidating at first because my background was in Fine Arts. Fine Arts and Digital Media use different methods. But I enjoyed the classes a lot,” says Tammy...
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Look at what our students are doing!
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