When Herbert Jimenez first arrived at West Los Angeles College (WLAC), he was working as a roofer on campus buildings. “The building behind me [The Watson Center] was one of the ones that I worked on,” he said. “I never thought that I would be a student here.”
Jimenez is now enrolled at WLAC, where he has become a Climate Center Fellow, a Rising Scholar, and an active writer. His path to higher education began after high school, when concerns about debt led him to briefly attend Mt. San Antonio College before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. “The Marines… known as one of the hardest boot camps… I figured that if I can get through that, then there’s nothing that I can’t get through,” Jimenez said.
His military service was cut short by an accident that resulted in incarceration. During this time, he joined a fire camp crew to help fight wildfires—a formative experience for his later interest in climate issues. “That was the first time I ever got to experience anything that was related to climate change,” Jimenez explained. “I got to see the devastation and the damage that these fires can create.”
While incarcerated, Jimenez also rediscovered his childhood dream of writing. “I got a chance to read a lot of books. And in those books, I was learning a lot about how people change,” he said. “I hope that my stories will one day inspire students and other individuals to be better people.”
Returning home, Jimenez enrolled at WLAC and credits the Rising Scholars program for supporting his transition back into education. He also found connections between his fire camp experience and WLAC’s Center for Climate Change Education. After attending a FAFSA workshop, he applied for an internship with the Climate Center.
This paid internship—and later fellowship—gave him office experience and exposure to environmental work with organizations such as AltaSea and Grades of Green, which promotes youth leadership on environmental issues. “Giving them resources that they need to make changes at a young age is very inspiring,” Jimenez said.
Recently, Jimenez completed training through MIT’s Climate Interactive “En-ROADS” program and became a certified facilitator for communicating climate solutions worldwide.
Looking ahead, Jimenez plans to transfer to USC or UCLA to develop his writing skills further while integrating scientific knowledge into his storytelling efforts about climate change. “What I want to do with my life—with writing—is creating stories that are authentic and that have the science behind the information,” he said.
As a first-generation college student, visibility matters deeply for Jimenez: “My daughter is six… she always jokes around how when she’s going to school, her dad’s going to school too, and we’re going to graduate at the same time,” he shared.
For others considering college—especially those from manual labor backgrounds or who have been justice-impacted—Jimenez offers advice: “It’s not just sitting down doing nothing. A lot of it is critical thinking… that’s what I feel college is. It’s finding a solution for your life that is better, not just for you, but also for your family.”
