Graduation at the Madison Area Technical College
A trying road to excellence



By Jonathan Gramling

    As we talked in the MATC cafeteria, I could see the pride well up inside José Viveros-Hernandez as he showed me on his laptop several of the graphics that
he had created for a marketing campaign that he and some of his classmates had put together for a class. He explained some of the points he had learned
about marketing.
    “If you are designing something for young people, you’re trying to design something colorful and bring their attention to your design,” he explained. “Young
people don’t want to read a lot of stuff. They just want the short message, something fun and easy to understand. They are not like adults who like to read about
the product. Fonts are also important. You try to use funny quotes that get young people’s attention. If you are creating something for more educated people,
then you use a more formal font. Different fonts appeal to different people.”
    And then he e-mailed me some of his graphics using MATC’s Wi-Fi network. One gets the impression that Viveros-Hernandez carries his laptop around with
him like others might carry around a notepad and pen. Although he is somewhat shy, Viveros-Hernandez is very friendly and seems quite comfortable
communicating with today’s information technology.
    Viveros-Hernandez has come a long ways, emotionally and physically in the last five years. Viveros-Hernandez was born in Puebla, Mexico, south of Mexico
City. He fondly recalled spending time with his uncle who commercials and promotional materials. Then about five years ago, his only sibling, a sister, died of
leukemia. And then the family made the move to the United States and Verona. Viveros-Hernandez was in 10th grade and knew little English. “I’m still learning
it and feeling I am getting better and better at it,” he admitted. “When I was at Verona Area High School, I took a lot of ESL classes, which helped me a lot. I
had to learn English in order to take normal classes. When I graduated and came to MATC, it was harder because of the vocabulary. I had to learn a lot of the
definitions for terms. I had to spend a lot of time with a dictionary trying to find the meaning of the different words that I didn’t know. It was kind of hard for me at
the beginning.”
    In two years, Viveros-Hernandez completed the requirements for an associate degree in marketing with a few classes to spare. Now he is anxious to apply his
skills in the real world. “Right now, I’m just looking to get some experience,” Viveros-Hernandez said. “It doesn’t matter the place. I could do an internship or as a
part-time job. During the next five years, I hope to get my four-year degree. That’s my long-term goal. I also want to earn some money to pay for college. Right
now, I’m going to take a little break in my studies, for about two years, and then go back to school.”
One can’t help but feel that someday, if given the chance, Viveros-Hernandez will be picking up an ADDY Award for a catchy ad campaign that he helped to
create.
José Viveros-Hernandez, exhibiting a
marketing campaign he designed, came to
the United States five years ago and is now
hoping to land a marketing job after
graduating from MATC.