Jack Garcia has faced many challenges in his education journey due to learning disabilities. He struggled in both high school and college but was encouraged by his high school football coach to keep working hard and not give up on his dreams. This inspired Garcia to become a teacher and coach himself. After earning his associate's degree, Garcia is now working towards his bachelor's degree at Texas Tech University, where he has faced some setbacks but found support through the University Studies program. He is determined to complete his education goals and become a high school teacher and coach.

1. Jack Garcia
Personal Narrative
I have lived life for 23 years now and I am still learning something every day. Like the
saying goes we first have to be young and dumb to be old and wise. I know now that life has a
way of teaching us lessons even when I do expect it. I have been in college for 5 years just
because I have to struggle more than others. I have several learning disabilities that hold me
back and challenge me. The disabilities make learning a challenge but I have not given up trying
to do the best I could in school. School has always been a struggle for me even in high school I
was challenged but I still worked my butt off to be the best I could be. I had a coach in high
school that encouraged me and he is the reason today I want to be a teacher and coach. I know
that not everybody will know this teacher and he will not be famous, but this coach is famous
and important to me because he believed in me and encouraged me to keep going even when
life knocks me down. The reason is because it was my senior year in high school and we were
going to play our last two football games of the season. We just got out of a tough game where
we lost on the last play of the game those games are the worst. I was walking out of the locker
room and Coach was sitting on the bench outside of the locker room and I sat down next to
him. I sat down with him and I turned and looked at him and I said “well coach this has been a
fun season and I will never forget it.” Coach looked at me and smiled and said “yes it sure has”
and we talked about some of the games we won and some of the moments along the way that
made the season so special. I started to get up and started to cry because I knew I only had a
couple more weeks left of football season which what I looked forward the most. Coach put his

2. arm around me and said “I love the game of football because it teaches us so much about
ourselves it breaks us down builds us up makes us strong and weak. Losing a football is not the
worst thing in the world but it does hurt losing a football game does not make us a loser what
makes a loser is someone that gives up when the going gets tough if you give life everything
you got and work hard then you are not a loser. Working your tail off to accomplish goals and
dreams you have that makes you a winner.” Since that moment I have been working hard to
accomplish my dreams just because coach encouraged me to keep going even when I think the
challenge is hard he told me to keep going no matter what obstacles are in front of me. I want
to keep working and fighting for the rest of my life because I feel like I will continue to be
blessed.
My education journey all started in a small town that small town is Shallowater, Texas. I
graduated with 82 peers and after that we all went our own ways. My way was going to school
to become a teacher and coach. I was encouraged by a coach and he made me want to become
a coach. I attended South Plains College and received my Associates in Science degree. Walking
across the stage for a second time was one of the best feelings in the world to me because it
was a sign that I finished one part of my education journey. I was smiling from ear to ear when I
heard my name on the loud speaker because learning has been a challenge for me. Step one of
many was accomplished now the next step was to attend Texas Tech University and get a
Bachelor’s degree in Education which I was going on the right track for the first two semesters
and the next fall gave me a road block because I was in a program to become and elementary
teacher which are great people and takes gifted people to become elementary school teachers
and that was a little ways from where I wanted to. I wanted to be a High school teacher and

3. coach so I had to get out of that program but they would not let me got to another program
until the next year so the department sent me to the University studies department. My three
areas of concentration are education, Exercise Sports Science, and Integrative studies. I chose
those three because education is my future goal to become a teacher. Exercise Sports Science is
dealing with sports and exercise and I want to become a coach so that area of concentration is
important to have. My third area is integrative studies which can help me solve problems with
using different areas of discipline. University studies is helping follow my dream to become a
teacher and coach because after what happen to me at that fall semester in the college of
education made me want to quit and not go back but University studies gave me hope. I am
thankful for the program and I am trying to learn all I can. My education journey has not been
an easy journey but an easy journey I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much. I know
when I walk the stage in December I will be smiling ear to ear and I will be proud because I will
know I accomplished one of my goals since I was a kid in middle school. I will give God all the
glory for helping me and leading me to this point in my life.
I know I love to eat sweets and if you have seen me you will think the same thing. I buy
sweets already baked and ready to eat because they are easier to eat and there is no waiting
required. Everything requires to be put together or poured, hammered, nailed, screwed,
molded, and fixed nothing is given. When part of the world we all need to find our places in this
crazy world and find out what we are good at and not so good at. Need to find where we
belong and connect everything we have learned and seen and apply it. I know everything I have
been through has a way of teaching me something. I have always worked I started working
when I was 16 years old. I kept the same job for 6 years and started doing volunteer work to

4. help me get experience in my future career. I know that every job I have had is helping me
because I am learning valuable lessons to use when I am a teacher and a professional one day.
Every obstacle every challenge I have had is helping me apply everything together so I can be
the best I can be. Challenges come and go and everyone I have had has taught me how to
handle them and how not to handle them. I think that life is like a cookie because the best
cookies are the ones that use every ingredient to make them taste so good. Cookies are not
good when it is just chocolate and milk and the mix cookies need to have a lot of ingredients to
taste good. In life we need to have different people doing different things because we do not
want everybody to be good at the same thing we want people all be good at different things
that makes the world go round.