Discovering Sparks

Many of us might not give much thought into how everyday appliances like lightbulbs and switches work, but Patricio Serrato got interested ever since his dad showed him the life of electricity. 

It all started when Serrato moved from Gilroy to San Jose. He unfortunately had to move because there was a better job opportunity for his father. 

When moving, he didn’t have access to his phone because his parents didn’t buy him one, and due to that, it caused him to lose all of his friends in Gilroy. 

“I didn't have any other friends, so I was sad but then I moved and made new friends and they're still my friends until today,” he said.

Serrato wanted to grow his interest more, and he asked his dad to show him and learn more about electricity. His dad was fixing power outages and he was watching, then when his dad noticed he told him he can help him discover more about electricity.

As a way of cope, and enjoyment, he started doing electricity as a hobby. The more he did it, the more passionate he got with it, and decided he wanted to make that a major. 

He did some electricity with the power box at his house, then began doing construction class at Yerba Buena High School in which he was given power boxes and he had to find ways to turn the light on. It helps him get creative and find different types of techniques in order to make the power box work. 

“Well, for one, I was working with my dad, because he wants to help me understand where to go through in life, and he helped me find out how to get electricity to go through a wire, and into a lightswitch,” Serrato said, “It took a while, but it was pretty fun. The best I can do is probably just work with a couple of wires. I can’t do more than a lot of them because it gets really complicated. I asked him to show me because I wanted to learn but he didn't know too much but he knew what to teach.” According to Serrato, electricians make good money and it is also a fun and enjoyable job. He has a plan of going to two years of community college first at San Jose City College (SJCC), and study electricity there, then after moving to trade school.

The main reason why he wants to do it is for his enjoyment and he can also see doing it long term.