Alvarez gears up to reach his career goals

San Jacinto College graduate Christopher Alvarez has already met one of his career goals as an automotive service technician for Westside Lexus in Houston.

"People don't always believe me, but this is one of my dreams," Alvarez said. "To work in the shop and to be one certification short of master status at 21 makes me feel great."

Alvarez is a Lexus senior certified technician with seven Automotive Service Excellence certifications under his belt as well as an automotive technology Toyota T-TEN certification and an Associate of Applied Science degree in automotive technology from San Jacinto College.

"I use everything I learned at San Jac every day at work," Alvarez said. "In the auto tech program, you learn the vehicles inside and out 100%. There is more to it than you can imagine, and I feel like San Jac prepared me to be the best I can be."

Alvarez entered the program after enrolling in the Automotive Youth Education Systems while attending Cy-Falls High School. This program allowed him to start working at the dealership while he was in high school.

"I started as a sophomore, and I've been at Westside Lexus for four years now," Alvarez said. "I honestly love San Jacinto College and would love to go back and be an instructor one day. I have so many goals, and San Jac has helped me start off on the right foot. I'm thankful for everything I learned there."