Timothy Arreola

At 15, I never imagined I’d one day work in the automotive industry. Back in middle school, I told everyone on career day that I wanted to design cars, which sparked my interest in engineering—but the cost of college made that dream feel out of reach.

Things began to change at Taft High School. Through dual credit classes at Wilbur Wright College, I started earning college credit while still in high school. A family friend, Susan Calabrese, who was Wright’s Director of Transfer, encouraged me to apply to their engineering program and told me about the Star Scholarship, which would cover my tuition.

With the scholarship, I enrolled at Wright and pursued an Associate in Engineering Science. There, I met Dr. Doris Espiritu, who opened doors to guaranteed transfer pathways to top schools like UIUC and Illinois Tech (IIT). I joined student organizations like the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE) and the American Chemical Society (ACS), where I built lasting friendships and learned from fellow future engineers.

In addition to making connections, Wright’s rigorous curriculum prepared me to succeed at IIT. It was ingrained in me to show how I arrived at an answer. This helped me become a better engineer as sometimes the results can be less significant than the process to arrive at those results. I also had a transfer scholarship at IIT. This allowed me to graduate in 2023 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering—without any student loan debt.

After graduation, I joined Sherwin-Williams as a co-op in manufacturing and process engineering. Today, I’m a process engineer at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama plant. Wright College laid the foundation for everything I’ve achieved in engineering, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

— Timothy Arreola, Wilbur Wright College graduate