The air was tense, Sketch Choice, and his mother sat in his middle school classroom. His mom had one question for his history teacher: “My son is turning in his work. He’s passing his tests, why is he still failing your class?”
Without much of a pause, his teacher would respond, “You people always come from Berkeley, Richmond, and Oakland, where all your children are honor students, but they’re not gonna be that here.”
He still remembers that moment like it was yesterday & it stuck with him.
“I processed that moment as I got older, it didn’t quite hit me until my mom kept explaining it to me… Coming from Berkeley, and being a bit of a naive kid, and thinking things like that wouldn’t happen over here, but then I grew up and I felt like what the Hell? Hold up?” Choice said.
The now 33-year-old LMC alumni, as well as a current student intern and assistant in the English Department, has been in the Bay Area all his life, moving to the Antioch area in 2003, where he has been ever since.
“I was born and raised in Berkeley, California. I never heard of Antioch, but when I was 12, we ended up moving out this way,” – We, as in his mother and two other siblings, although when counting his father’s side, the number gets bigger.
“On my mother’s side, I am the oldest of three; on my father’s side, I am the third oldest of five – so, altogether I am the third oldest of eight,” Choice explained.
His life has always centered back to one thing: education.
“Humble brag: out of preschool, my mother found out I was being tested, and at 3 I could read at about an 8th grade level. They ended up skipping me to first grade.”
Although his reading ability was exceptional, the issues of being an introvert became apparent to his educators when they decided to bump him back down to kindergarten.
“I was extremely shy as a kid, and they’re like, well, this guy doesn’t know how to read.”
Sketch didn’t allow those who underestimated him to bring him down, so when placed in kindergarten, he used his skills to help around the classroom.
“In Kindergarten, I would help my teacher with a couple of students who didn’t know how to speak English, so I was teaching in Spanish and translating for the teacher. It was really fun.”
Throughout his life, he was constantly changing schools. He spoke about a moment when he transferred to another school, and he was able to try the first grade again, but his shyness caused a repeat of teachers thinking he wasn’t at the level they were told.
“I sat in the class, I was very quiet and shy, and again the teachers were like, well, this kid doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
His mother was someone who never allowed his teachers to underestimate him, so when the same situation repeated itself, she stood up for her son and stood by what she knew he was capable of.
“I remember her asking, what do you mean my son can’t read?” She would then tell the teacher to give her a moment, and she walked away, going to grab a newspaper.
“She runs down the street, grabs a newspaper, brings it back, puts it on the table, and tells me to read it. I was like okay, and read the whole thing. The teacher’s just like…well, all right,” although he was able to prove his smarts at that school, he later transferred again.
Later in life, when Sketch was a teenager, he graduated from Deer Valley High School in 2009, and at first, he wanted to do what every overworked high schooler wanted to do: and that was taking a break.
“I told my mother, I was like I am graduating high school. I need a break — I’m going to figure out something later on…” but that did not work out the way he planned.
“Three months after graduating at Deer Valley, I was right here on campus bright and early.”
Although it wasn’t his original plan, going to LMC is something he’s glad he did – “Even though I really wanted a break, I’m actually very thankful I took the opportunity to be here, especially with the courses I was able to take.”
He started at Los Medanos as an art major. The idea of pursuing art as a career stuck with him since he was young, “I had been drawing my entire life, and it’s something I really wanted to pursue.”
Sketch has been present at the LMC campus since 2009. During that time, he decided to add some more experience to his belt.
“I have seen taking classes consistently since 2009, I have been taking so many classes that I have accumulated over 300 units. And for graduation, I did not only walk out with my major in Art/Graphic Communications but also my Biology degree.”
He is continuing to show just how much he can accomplish as he pushed himself even further, “I have my Associates in Biological Science, I have a few in Liberal Arts – Math and Science, Arts and Humanities, and Social & Behavioral Science.”
With all these degrees he’s accumulated over time, he still finds his way back here on campus, sometimes working in the student store but his love for working in academics sticks with him continuously, “I do like working in academics, it’s nice; you get to see different walks of life.”
He gives advice to students currently attending classes here on campus: “Utilize your resources; if you see a friendly face, don’t be afraid to talk to us, especially in the English department, we’re not going to bite you.”
He’s built up a lot of experience with taking so many classes he gives advice to those who are taking classes here at LMC and finishes with this, “Just enjoy the ride, I know there’s a lot of things that can be stressful, especially with whatever major you’re going into or homework you have to deal with…But as soon as you bide your time, you’ll be okay.”
