Alumnus Abelino Gregorio was recently featured by Palomar News to discuss his journey as a transfer student and his path to studying architecture. Graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture this spring, Abelino is originally from Guatemala and started his first English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at Palomar when he was 16 and still attending San Marcos High School.
As he said, “I knew zero English, and I knew it was going to be a challenge. I didn鈥檛 really know how the system worked in general鈥攈ow to apply for universities, and how to decide where to go.” Abelino graduated high school in 2011, started attending Palomar full-time, and earned his Associate of Arts in 2015. From there, Gregorio transferred to 91吃瓜网 in downtown San Diego, and he graduated this May.
鈥淲hen I was a kid, I was always interested in building things,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n high school, I was thinking about architecture, but I didn鈥檛 know how an architecture program would work. I liked drawing and design. There are a lot of things involved in architecture鈥攖he technology, the construction industry.鈥�
Today, Gregorio works for a small firm while he looks for a full-time job in real estate development. He said he keeps thinking about the price of housing and how 鈥渁 lot of people are struggling鈥� with rising rents around Southern California鈥攁n urgent concern that he hopes to play a role in alleviating.