Mr. Espinoza in the counselors office. (Credit: Jhonny Paz/ Hp Spartan Shield)
Mr. Luis Espinoza is one of Huntington Park’s newest counselors who works with the senior population. Over the years, Espinoza has come and gone several times. This is his third time working here.
His first stay at HP was in August of 2010 through June of 2015 where he was hired at HP in for his first counseling job. During this time here, Espinoza also helped coach football.
In the summer of 2015, he left to find work in Colorado and stayed for one school year. “I went to Colorado to try to work over there and it was a great experience,” said Mr. Espinoza. In August of 2016 through June of 2018, Espinoza came back to HP for his second stint, but left to Griffith Middle School to return to the classroom.
This year he came back to assist with the counseling group. He was asked by the administration to return because of the counseling changes, and be the replacement for the new 12th-grade counselor. He mostly works with seniors and he helps by telling them the requirements they need to take for them to graduate and reach college. Since this year brings new challenges, Mr. Espinoza’s main goals are to get through this year by helping all seniors graduate and get to where they want to be.
“I like working with seniors because I get to see their maturity and progression towards college goals”.
He says that the hardest part of being a counselor is having to deal with social-emotional things at home and support the students that don’t have support from their families.
Mr. Espinoza grew up in Huntington Park living near State Street elementary on Broadway. He and his brother ended up in Garfield high school. Mr. Espinoza wasn’t planning to be a counselor when he was younger. He was planning to be a cop or a firefighter, but he decided to teach history. He then decided to be a counselor so that he could help the students directly.
“You always need to have a backup plan just in case something doesn’t work out,” stated Mr. Espinoza didn’t achieve his first goal as a professional football player. The second goal didn’t work out either to become a firefighter and cop, so his third goal was to be a counselor which he did achieve and he is satisfied with where he is.
“I love my job, and I always come into work with a smile on my face,” said Mr. Espinoza.
By Jhonny Paz, Staff Writer