There are many stories of people who don’t really go to school, and yet come out on top of the world with successfully-built empires that conquering the height of business. A perfect example would be Microsoft’s Bill Gates. But for an ordinary person, jumping from one level of success to the next may seem like an impossible feat. But if you arm yourself with determination, perseverance and persistence, the impossible might just come along, with a little bit of surprise and excitement edged into it.
Take the case of twenty-seven year old Jose Orozco, who was a bumbling high school dropout and yet, still excelled in law school. As of the present, he is the incoming president of the Student Bar Association at the California Western School of Law in San Diego and is planning to specialize in employment law after graduation. Talk about a rough change – he went from an all-out gang member hustling on the streets to a head in the books law student.
From Gang Life to Law Life
He began his work life as a cashier at a Jack-in-the-Box fast-food joint then began his move up the fast-food ladder by getting promoted to shift leader in a very short period of time. This immediate jump was a surprise for him – especially with his life still entwined in the streets of Logan Heights and his gang life affiliations. But there was one person who instantly saw the potential in Orozco – former police office Kevin LaChapelle, who always had the time to eat in the restaurant where Jose Orozco worked. LaChapelle served as Jose Orozco’s mentor in the troubled times of the youth and he aided the young Orozco into getting his life on the right track.
LaChapelle said that there was something different about the young man, and he could feel that Jose really wanted to change the way he was living his life. When he used to deal with gang member, LaChapelle would have to almost force these gang members to change – not with Orozco though, he already had the desire to change his life from the beginning.
For Orozco, becoming a lawyer wasn’t actually what he wanted to do in the first place when he first started working. He had already become a gang member and he was pretty comfortable living the “thug life”. But from the moment he started working as a cashier at the fast food place, he didn’t have as much time to join in the gang activities. Slowly, all his co-gang members began to disappear. Orozco added that each time he would want to get with his former buddies, they were always involved with something – usually in legal trouble.
The Journey to Law School
Early life for Orozco wasn’t always a bed of roses. In fact, he was orphaned at the age of thirteen – when his mother died of skin cancer and his father died of prostrate cancer. His home kept changing for about a year – from his grandmother’s place in Mexico to his stepsister’s place in National City. Finally, he decided to just stay with his aunt in Sherman Heights, where he spent his teenage years.
But even with such a tough background, Jose Orozco is determined to make something out of his future and he’s on his way to legal success.
Jose Orozco currently speaks to young students at Promise Charter School about working towards a brighter future and the possibilities that are out there for positive change. In mid-February 2008, Orozco won 2nd place in the Lynch Appellate Competition. He has been elected president of the Student Bar Association for the 2008-2009 academic year. Orozco has also won the Brigadier General John R. DeBarr Award in March 2008, which recognizes a student’s commitment to professional integrity and their great promise to become a creative problem solver for future clients. Orozco will graduate from California Western School of Law in 2009. He intends to practice employment law as a way to help workers who are like he once was: without a voice.
