From competing in 3-D contests to playing goalie for the soccer team, this Spartan takes on any task.
Photo by Rebecca Holt
Guillermo Garcia is a senior at TJ who enjoys playing soccer, skateboarding, has a 3.6 GPA, takes accelerated classes, and has created TJ’s new game club.
At TJ, Guillermo’s favorite class is 3-D Animation with Jerry Esparza. Guillermo is currently a teaching assistant for Esparza, but has taken all four levels of Esparza’s 3-D Animation classes. As an assist, Guillermo goes around the classroom helping students, whether assisting them making 3-D objects the correct way, or adding cool textures and graphics to objects. “The students in the class have great ideas, and I want to help them turn their ideas into a work of art. They are funny, well-behaved students, and it’s a good clean environment to be around. Mr. Esparza has order and control in his classroom, which makes it easy for me to do my job,” said Guillermo.
Esparza says he appreciates Guillermo’s help, as well. “Guillermo has taken all three levels of the 3-D modeling classes, and having him as an assist this year is very helpful. He is great with the other students, and sometimes he will help me if I don’t know how to do certain things in modeling. He is easy to work with and is very good at 3-D modeling,” said Esparza. Guillermo participated in the regional 3-D competition and in a state competition last year. “He did very good in both, and even though he didn’t qualify in state, I still think that he is one of the best modelers that I’ve had as a student,” said Esparza. “I showcase most of his work because he is that good at modeling. I believe that he could have a great career in Post Secondary Technical Education,” said Esparza.
Guillermo competed for the boys’ varsity soccer team this year, but he missed a few games because of an injury to his leg caused by skateboarding. “I’ve always liked soccer. It’s a fun sport to watch and play, and I play for the fun of it. When I hurt my leg, it was hard for me to sit out. I wanted to play so bad, but my doctor told me ‘no” so I missed a few games,” said Guillermo.
Guillermo created the TJ Game Club during his junior year, because he wanted to bring students who weren’t involved with other TJ activities together. “I wanted to give kids a place where they could come after school and have fun and meet new friends,” said Guillermo, whose club is successful. In the game club, they play games such as Halo, Madden, and Call of Duty 4. Guillermo brings most of the games from his house, along with his own X-Box. The game club meets once each week every Thursday from 3:00-4:00 in Math Teacher Lispin Kuruvilla’s room.
Outside of school, Guillermo likes to play video games, play basketball with his friends, and hang out at the mall. He is also a part of the Masonic Band Camp, which plays in a parade on the Fourth of July, and three to four students each are chosen from different high schools across Colorado to play in the parade. Guillermo plays the trombone and tuba, and he has been selected for the past three years, and is the conductor of the low brass section. “It’s a fun and exciting experience because we meet people from all over Colorado, and they all have the same passion for music as I do. I also love to represent DPS schools and show everybody that we are just as good and as capable as other school districts,” said Guillermo, who is also applying for the Masonic Band College Scholarship for $5,000 per year.
Guillermo’s favorite teacher at TJ is Lispin Kuruvilla. “She is the teacher who isn’t always so serious. You can relax in her class and have a good time. She makes math fun for us, and she is a person who I feel comfortable talking to. She is always available to students after school to help them with math homework. Mrs. Kuruvilla has the ability to relate to the modern high school student because of her ability to joke around, and opening her classroom for us to use it for the game club. She’s a teacher that cares about you not only as a student, but as a person, and that makes her unique from most teachers,” said Guillermo.
Lispin Kuruvilla is a math teacher at TJ who is in her second year at the school. She teaches Algebra 1 and 2, and has had Guillermo as a student for Algebra 2 during Guillermo’s Junior year. “He is a great student who always has a good positive attitude. He is very respectful and is good natured in everything he does,” said Kuruvilla, who added that the one thing that makes Guillermo stand out is his willingness to help other people with anything. “He is always willing to help students with their math homework or problems outside of school. He is very friendly and considerate of others, and that’s rare to find in students,” said Kuruvilla.
After high school, Guillermo hopes to attend the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, and major in Computer Graphics Development. “I want to go there because I love the campus; it gives a natural feeling and it’s a wide open space away from the city. The environment is beautiful and would make it easy to study because it’s quiet. I like their computer program; it’s affordable and it’s close to home,” said Guillermo, who also said that the reason he wants to major in computer graphics is because he wants to work in Pixar Animation. “I want to make movies like Toy Story for kids to enjoy and laugh at. I like to see inanimate objects look and seem realistic, and show that those objects can have emotions,” said Guillermo.
