Sierra College Student Success Story: Luis Ramirez
Another great story in the "Student Success" series from Sierra College, about a student in the Tahoe-Truckee area.
ROCKLIN – After three years at Sierra College, working and studying hard, Luis Ramirez, 22, is ready to take on an education at California Polytechnic State University, San Louis Obispo. He will be leaving Sierra with his A.A. in Architecture, but for Ramirez, this is only the beginning.
“Sierra College really prepared me for the future,” he said. “They helped get me an internship and encouraged me to do well.”
Ramirez grew up living in a small trailer in the town of Kings Beach, on the shores of Lake Tahoe. A gifted student with a lot of drive, Ramirez enrolled in the Engineering Support Technology program at Sierra College, and did very well. He received a Computer-Aided Drafting Specialist-Architectural certificate on May 11, 2007. He is currently working for a local engineer and preparing to make the move to San Luis Obispo to begin the next step in his education.
“Sierra offers a lot of opportunities,” he said. “All the instructors and counselors are there to help out.”
Ramirez will always remember the feelings of excitement and anticipation he had during his first semester on campus. “It was great just being able to come to Sierra College,” he said. “Now that I have my A.A. degree, it feels amazing to be going to Cal Poly to be a part of their architecture program.”
Ramirez also credits the financial aid he received at Sierra College for making it possible for him to get an education. Applying for FAFSA helped to pay for tuition and he was also the recipient of a Dave Ferrari Scholarship. Dave Ferrari is a current and long time member of the Board of Trustees of Sierra College. He grew up in and represents the Tahoe/Truckee region. He runs Ferrari’s Crown Motel, a business founded and built by his parents in 1955. Mr. Ferrari, a community activist, founder and board member of the Boys & Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe; also serves on the board of the Family Resource Center; and the Grants committee with the Tahoe/Truckee Community Foundation.
Ferrari is proud of Luis Ramirez’s accomplishments and suggested to the P/R Department that his story is worth telling.
Ramirez has many goals for the future and the education he has received at Sierra College has helped him to realize what he wants to do. “I had a unique experience at Sierra College,” Ramirez said. “My advice to incoming students is to relax and to work as much as they can with the counselors.”
“Really, I just want to be someone that my peers can look up to,” he said.
For a full list of classes and programs available at Sierra College, go to www.sierracollege.edu. Fall semester classes begin August 25.
