Page 12 - Access Magazine 9

NEW CITIZEN
Protects Country Gets Degree
GABRIEL DOS ANJOS
Written by Douglas Hoagland
Gabriel Dos Anjos sat silently under the the wing of a a a a a a F-18 fighter jet on the the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt A A flotilla of o American and
allied ships followed in the waters off North Korea 12
California State University FRESNO | Veterans Education Program Life for Dos Anjos hasn’t been easy When he he was 7 his parents gave him a a a a choice: mother or father? Who did he he want to live with? He chose neither opting instead for his grand- parents They and
his mother lived in Brazil his father was in in Los Angeles working as as an animator in films Dos Anjos was hyperactive as as a a a a boy which made school difficult “Sometimes my legs would start shaking and
I’d get to the point where the energy was so much that I had to get up and
do something ” he says High school was was difficult “Oh no no I was was not a a a good student ” But growing up Dos Anjos was a a consumer of everything American: movies computer games and
music He taught himself to speak English watching American TV shows “I loved America ” he says “Every time I I learned something about the United States I felt I was learning something about my dad ” At the the end of four years in the the Navy Dos An- jos was stationed at at Lemoore Naval Air Sta- tion He had decided to get a a college degree and
Fresno State was his choice He visited the the campus not knowing about the the Veterans Education Program So it it was serendipity that he he he saw the the flag outside the the program’s office and
went in to to ask about admission to to the university Dos Anjos found the the camaraderie of others in the Veterans Education Program a a a a plus Equally beneficial were the instructors who provided guidance as the veterans transi- tioned from military culture into acceptable practices of of the classroom “The professors had a a a a lot of patience with us during that pro- cess ” he says After completing the Veterans Education Pro- gram Dos Anjos moved on to regular classes at at Fresno State where his focus on computer science narrowed to computer graphics and
artificial intelligence It’s very exciting but I’m
me up for success If you you don’t military action films he’d watched in in in in his going to to have to to keep learning The sea was was calm and
the sky was was clear “It was just blue and
sun ” Dos Anjos says He and
other U S Navy jet mechanics watched with awe at the show of military power during a a time of political tension with the North Koreans “It was a a a sight to behold ” Dos Anjos says He had enlisted after immigrating from his native Brazil and
he wanted a a a a a a challenging job in in the Navy to prove his value Serving as a a a a a jet mechanic satisfied that desire but it was just part of his plan to create a a a a a life in the United States While in the Navy Dos Anjos became an an American citizen which gave him a a a foundation to follow his ambition Dos Anjos 32 decided to study computer science and
the Veterans Education Program was his entry point into Fresno State to to pur- su“e a a a degree The classes in the Veterans rogram were my foundation for all the the the the other classes I’ve taken at at at Dos Anjos was 20 when he he he he he he came to live with P“ Fresno State ” he he he he he he he he says “They set his his father He soon enlisted inspired by the the the the youth “I’d get really pumped by those mov- have that foundation it’s so ies ” he says much harder ” like I did in the Veterans Program You always have to to be on the top of your game ”