Success Stories

From a young age, Mesa Community College graduate Priscilla Gutierrez has felt deeply connected to the Mesa community. “Having been born and raised here, I saw MCC as the ideal place to begin my educational journey.”

Gutierrez has remained true to her roots. She continues to reside in Mesa and serves as the Mesa City Council District Coordinator supporting District 4 Councilmember Jenn Duff.

Whether he's reporting the weather, "hunting down happy hour deals" or sharing stories about children in need of foster and adoptive families, MCC alumnus and 3TV, CBS 5 Arizona's Family meteorologist Ian Schwartz says his job is rewarding.

Reporting news and weather for the past 19 years, Schwartz got his start at MCC, attending from 1999 to 2002.

After working in corporate America for 30 years, Lavon Jackson Maccanico suddenly found herself without a job. Her career in human resources abruptly ended due to a lay off - something she had never before experienced.

"I did nothing for about a year," says Jackson Maccanico, who holds a bachelor's degree in business and a master's degree in organizational development.

"You know, thanks to this call, I'm remembering a lot about my time at MCC. It's probably the most personal I've been during an interview," says Douglas Miles Sr., independent artist, owner of Apache Skateboards, and advocate for artistic expression for communities and people of color.

He attended MCC part-time in the 1980s while working at the then-booming Motorola Semiconductor plant on Broadway and Dobson roads. At the time, it was one of the largest employers in the state. Miles worked in quality assurance, looking for defects in production.

“Sorry if my phone gets disconnected–the cell reception might go in and out up here,” says MCC alumnus Benjamin Rundall on a return trip from the Navajo Nation. A civil rights attorney, Rundall speaks of bidding on a proposal to do work on the reservation, a contract supporting the rights to tribal sovereignty under Federal Indian Law.

It’s part of the demands of the job, yet fulfillment of the work he does that is fueled by a passion to help those in need.

Monica Trejo was not a traditional student, nor is she a traditional doctoral candidate. “My journey is my journey, and I’m very proud of where it’s taken me,” she explains.

From dropping out after her first semester at Mesa Community College, to returning while she worked a full-time job, Trejo slowly returned to the space that best contributed to her personal growth: education. Now in her All but Dissertation phase in Urban Educational Leadership at Columbia University, she has her sights set on helping others reach their full potential.

Athlete. Teaching Credentials in Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education. Professor. Coach. Inventor. Entrepreneur. Stuntman. Actor. Tim Werner’s experiences are varied and expansive.

Tim, a Thunderbird from the Class of 1976, grew up in Woodland Hills, California. He attended Notre Dame High School and became a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Champion in the pole vault in 1974. When his father retired to Arizona, Tim learned the value of hard work on a farm in Gilbert.

Throughout his early life and as a first generation college student, Angel Ruvalcaba was captivated by comics and movies, and loved to tell stories through his digital art and drawings. Today he is a production assistant at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, a career move that he said could not have happened without Mesa Community College.

Renae Blackwater graduated from MCC in Spring 2022, and served as an intern at Tempe-based LLC Indigenous Health over the summer. While there, she played an integral role in the organization – hosting an inaugural football camp for Native Youth at MCC in July that was coached by members of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins Football team.

She recently spoke at the American Indian Institute’s anniversary celebration, offering praise of her experience at MCC. “After I spoke with an advisor at MCC, I became part of a community who cared.”

Law was a second career for Mesa Community College alumnus Lyle Jones, who has been practicing since 2006. In that time, he has worked in private practice, served as a public defender, sat as magistrate judge over the Tipton County, Tennessee Juvenile Court, and currently hears disability cases as a United States Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration.