Last updated on October 9, 2019
David Espinosa has a lot of reasons to love DCCCD, from the professors to the stellar education he received. Here are a few of the reasons for his #DCCCDLove:
1. As a lifelong Grand Prairie resident, David graduated from Grand Prairie High School and went on to attend Mountain View College. He cites English professor Dr. Paul Benson as one of his primary inspirations while at Mountain View. “Dr. Benson was a professional who really inspired me – I took his English lit classes, his religion class… I tried to take most of his classes. He had a big impact on me. He’s a great professor and a great asset to DCCCD.”
2. David also cites a breadth of opportunities as a valuable aspect of his experience at Mountain View. “At DCCCD, my opportunities were endless,” said David. “I took the majority of my basics at Mountain View, like statistics, college mathematics — I took everything I could and transferred it. It was one of the major benefits of attending community college. It’s very economical to go to community college first and get all your basics out of the way.”
3. Lastly, David cites gains in confidence as a big benefit at Mountain View, and these gains aided him once he officially transferred and set foot on UT Arlington’s campus as a student. “I think my confidence was really well established,” said David. “So when I transferred to UTA, I felt a lot more confident after having gone through a community college and getting all my basics out of the way. I felt more prepared to compete in a larger lecture room with other students.”
Where is David Now?
His hard work paid off. After earning his associate degree in liberal arts from Mountain View, he transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and minored in Spanish. David also became the youngest board member ever and the first Latino in a single member district for Grand Prairie ISD in 2015. He credits Mountain View for playing a significant role in his life up to this point. “Mountain View helped put me towards that path. I felt more prepared going into a university, and the teacher/student ratio was smaller. I got more of a one-on-one experience with my professors, versus a larger lecture room.”
And there you have it – David’s #DCCCDLove story. What does your #DCCCDLove story look like?