“I’m always looking for ways to improve the students’ experience and what the departments can do,” said Cesar Reyes, Los Medanos College’s Senior Lab Coordinator for the Art, Drama and Journalism department. “Part of that is looking at the technology we’re using and how we look ahead a few years from now to what people will be using them to prepare for that and help students change and adapt to technologies.”
With a bachelor’s degree in political science from San Diego State University and a master’s in theatre from the University of Idaho, Reyes started at LMC in 2019 as a part-time employee. He began his current full-time position in January 2020. Since he has a passion for the arts and supporting the departments in any way he can, he puts a lot of effort into contributing to other staff.
“I think I’ve always been curious how [technology] works,” said Reyes.
Reyes also finds ways in his position to balance his passions for theater, arts and technology while improving the technology software systems for his departments. He’s taken apart various technologies such as copiers, computers and hard drives, and replaced them with newer parts to ensure students and faculty can continue pursuing their work.
“All the jobs I’ve ever had I’ve been interested in how the software helps us to do our jobs better or find creative ways to use the technology,” said Reyes.
As a father, his goal is to be with his kids as much as he can, see them grow and learn about the world within their environment.
“Seeing their lives develop and seeing them accomplish new things makes me really proud, and every day there’s something new,” said Reyes about his kids.
Recently returning from paternity leave, Reyes continues to find more ways to balance his family and work life by spending as much time with them as possible. To maximize time with his kids, he brings his daughter to the LMC Child Care Program, which allows him to visit and see her throughout the day.
As much as Reyes is involved with the school, being an educator was not originally on his career path. He has various lines of work under his belt. In 2004, he worked on account payables with the presidential campaign for John Kerry, and before the recession hit in 2008, he worked in an investment firm in San Diego.
After the recession, Reyes started to question what he wanted to do with his life, as he felt it wasn’t very fulfilling with his past work. This led to attending LMC as a student from 2010 to 2016, taking art and theater classes. He then went on to receive a master’s degree in theatre at the University of Idaho.
“The work I was doing, I dealt with a lot of customers, and a lot of that was fulfilling, but I didn’t feel like I had a direct impact on people’s lives as I do here at LMC,” said Reyes. “I get to see students’ growth as they pursue their dreams so that to me is fulfilling.”
While Reyes found meaning in his job, there was an issue when he started because of the pandemic. Struggling to reach out to students and staff to offer support and resources while maintaining the guidelines, he was able to adapt with art professor Lucy Snow by scheduling students to drop in for their work.
“It’s given me a home away from home. As a student, it helped me find and pursue my passions in life,” said Reyes about his time with LMC. “As an employee, I get to work with a lot of people, and I get to see different parts on their journey.”
As the new year approaches, Reyes looks forward to completing a long-term superhero genre, feature-length movie that he’s worked on with the Drama department since the pandemic. Another goal he’s pursuing for the spring semester is teaching a Shakespeare class, HUMAN-24, with retired art professor Ken Alexander.
