Armando Chacon

Quick Facts

Program: B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Graduation Year: 2020
Current Job Title: Distribution Engineer 1 at Southern California Edison
Hometown: Fontana, CA
Current City: Fontana, CA

Life at CBU

Why did you choose your major? What interested you in this particular field of study?
My close family is a family of engineers. My dad has worked in the utility industry for 27 years and has only spoken well of his experience with Edison. Likewise, my brother has worked at Edison for just over 3 years now and has only had positive things to say of his experience there. Seeing the happiness and stability that seemed to come with a job in the electrical utility ultimately drove me to decide to follow in their footsteps and become an electrical engineer.

What did you like about being in this program at CBU?
One thing I can say for certain at CBU is that most, if not all, professors genuinely care about their students’ success and will take the time to help you succeed. The class sizes being on the smaller side was a big plus as it lends itself to a more hands-on experience that isn’t as watered down.

What did you think about your professors?
I enjoyed having a diverse set of professors that were willing to share their knowledge on their subject expertise. In all things, at least for the ECE faculty, you can tell that they hold God to the utmost importance and have a character that shows it.

Did you complete an internship?
Yes. I participated in an internship with Southern California Edison that began as a summer only internship but got converted into a year round offer when they were impressed with my work. Now that I have graduated, they have hired me into a full-time position.

Did you participate in anything else at CBU?
I participated in the intramural soccer league at the school for my first two years at CBU. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in my last year due to class conflicts. I am thankful that building a social life and making friends is strongly encouraged at the school and that despite having 18 units for my first four semesters I was able to still participate in activities.

How did you grow (spiritually, socially, educationally) while in this program at CBU?
Making friends at CBU that were like-minded in regards to Christ was a huge blessing to have that cannot be easily found at many other schools. Since I was already a Christian when I started attending CBU, the main thing that I felt grow spiritually was a strong community of believers around me which is a huge encouragement to the Christian. Socially, I was able to develop some friendships that will hopefully last long after college. Even though I was not as plugged in with social events as many other students, I found that it was still incredibly easy to build strong friendships with the people around me. Educationally, I cannot thank CBU enough. It’s true what they say about getting a job, employers are looking for people who know how to learn, how to adapt to circumstances, and how to be team players. CBU did a fantastic job of teaching all of these qualities and more, all while focusing on the importance of working for a higher power.

Did your major help you figure out your purpose?
Servant leadership is a huge part of the experience in the ECE program at CBU. Much of the work is team oriented and through the experience it was easy to see that being an effective leader and follower comes from emulating Christ with a servant mindset and putting others before ourselves.

Life after CBU

How has your major and time at CBU prepared you for your life and career after college?
As I previously stated, working with others is something that will never go away and will be everywhere in life. My time at CBU and in the ECE department has definitely prepared me to work in teams while always being mindful that we work for a higher power than ourselves and our employers.

Is there anything you learned at CBU that you still use in your professional life today?
Though I will be the first to admit that I hated presentations, it is a vital skill to have in many environments including where I work. I still must give presentations on a somewhat regular basis. Some of the software that we used in the ECE curriculum is not exactly the same as what I use at my job but close enough that it made it easy to learn the new tools at my work.

Would you recommend CBU to others?
Absolutely. If the stellar education, small class sizes, caring professors, excellent social opportunities, Christ-centeredness, new facilities, great rec center, and much-better-than-before parking situation are not enough to attest to how great of a school CBU is then maybe being one of the top cafeterias in the state will convince someone, not to mention, we have Chick-fil-A.

Anything else you’d like to add?
CBU’s College of Engineering is the only school that I am aware of that it would have been possible to complete an engineering degree in 3 years. Though it took a little bit of extra work in the form of 2 summer classes, my participation in AP programs in high school opened the door for the opportunity to complete my degree quickly. Where most schools struggle to get their students out in the standard 4-year time frame, most CBU students make it out with relative ease in 4 years and it is now possible to do so in 3 years. Not only was it possible to do this but ECE faculty encouraged my endeavor to finish in 3 years and helped make my goal a reality. If you are someone who is a high achiever and have considered wanting to finish college quickly, I can think of no other place than CBU to pursue an ECE degree. I am incredibly thankful to the faculty for their support and am glad to attest that it is possible to get an engineering degree in 3 years.