Bakersfield Student Works Hard Towards ESSM Program Graduation

Javier Hernandez-Oliveros does not talk about himself or his accomplishments very easily. At 19-years old and only out of high school for a year, you’d think he would be all about hanging with friends and the next good time. You’d be wrong. But you wouldn’t hear it from him.

Javier doesn’t make a big deal out of what he has had to do to complete 14-months of a pretty intensive Emergency Services and Safety Management program at the Bakersfield campus. However the facts tell a different story of his weeks and months building toward graduation.

Classes were Monday-Thursday, noon until 5:00 pm. Javier worked 20-hrs each week for a prevention-loss company, Fri-Sun. and volunteered as a mentor for the Kern Co. Probation Department’s Crossroads facility for juveniles Mon. and Wed. nights.  He also volunteered for crowd control and security for the Veteran’s Day Parade, Christmas Parade, Mercy Hospital’s water contamination exercises and was Coordinator for Volunteer Services for the County’s Partners of Education program. There’s more.

Javier assists the wrestling coaches at Mira Monte High School and uses his old high school gym to work out 8-10 hours each week.

“I’m kind of different from my friends who want to go to college and have a good time,” says Javier. He is all about focus, determination and eventual success.

Javier loved the physicality and action of the ESSM program. “I especially enjoyed the firearms training, defensive tactics and physical training classes,” he says.

He had to drive 7-miles from his home to the campus every time he needed to use a computer for his class assignments…which was a lot. His family has encouraged him all along the way.

“My mom says, ‘You didn’t come this far to stop,’” he says. His four younger brothers and little sister were watching him closely. “Now my 12-year old brother, Eliazar, wants to be a SWAT member,” he says. “I think he’ll make it.”

Although Javier is trying to get a position with Juvenile Corrections, his sights are set even higher. His long-term goal is to get his BA degree and become a Probation Officer. There is no doubt he will get there. “If you do what you’re supposed to do, it’s pretty simple,” he says.