Interview with Juan Alcala

The first interview I had conducted with Juan Alcala was very informative and full of positive conversation. Juan is Thirty-Nine years old and married with five kids. He himself automatically told me he was a “full time student, full time worker, and full time dad.” From this point, I knew he would have many interesting things to say about himself and his life. After he graduated from Channel Islands High School in 1991, he was already working. In 1995, he had been the Army active duty until 1999. He has several role models but the one that stuck out most was Sergeant Lonnie Crittendon from the time he served in the military. Juan described Crittendon to me as “short guy who had been in the military for twenty-two years, but had so much respect from senior officers and other Sergeants.” To this day, Juan says he still talks to him too. Juan told me that Sergeant Cittendon encouraged him to work for his current employer, which is for the federal government. Currently Juan works for the Department of Homeland Security based out of Santa Barbara. He first started in Phoenix in 2002, but then transferred to Santa Barbara in 2007. Toward the end of our interview, Juan had told me the reason he is earning a degree is so he can transfer to Channel Islands and continue in business. In addition, he had mentioned that he has “topped out and needs that degree to get any more of a promotion.” In the end of our interview, I asked Juan what the importance of school was to him and he replied to me by saying, “How can I preach to my kids the importance of education if I don’t do it myself.” Truly, Juan was a positive individual to talk to and getting to know a bit about.