MOORPARK STUDENT ACHIEVES GOAL SALVADORAN EMIGRANT RECEIVES 4 DIPLOMAS.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

MOORPARK - Six years after fleeing war-torn El Salvador, Jaime Guevara took the stage during Moorpark College's graduation ceremony and received four diplomas - one for each of the degrees he has earned.

It took him five years - time spent studying past midnight and working as a janitor to pay for school. And along the way, Guevara learned to reach out to others, becoming part of the campus community and the Moorpark community as well.

``He would give you the shirt off his back, and he's got a heart of gold,'' said Resa Brown, a teacher who met Guevara when he taught her children how to play soccer. ``He sees his journey as not only his journey but that of his family and other people like him.''

Brown was among a slew of friends and relatives who turned out for Guevara's graduation Wednesday, when he received associate's degrees in engineering, physics, math, and arts and sciences. He also was named the campus's Top Engineering Student.

As a child in El Salvador, witnessing the destruction of bridges, roads and buildings fueled Guevara's dream of becoming an engineer. He is well on his way to fulfilling that ambition with his acceptance for fall at UCLA's civil engineering school, one of the most prestigious in the nation.

``If you want to do something or work at something, you have to say to yourself, I don't care if they pay me I'm just going to do it anyway,'' said Guevara, 24.

``There's something inside of me that says I want to do this, that before I die I want to build that building or that bridge. And that's what I'm going for.''

By all accounts, Guevara's road has been a hard one, with the family trying to stay out of the civil war in El Salvador. His father was the first one to come to the United States, followed by his mother and older brother. Guevara and two other brothers arrived in 1994.

The family settled in Moorpark, and Guevara enrolled in midyear at Moorpark High School, where even asking teachers for permission to go to the bathroom proved challenging because of the language barrier.

After graduating from high school, Guevara, the second oldest of six brothers, thought his dream of becoming an engineer was beyond his reach - until he learned he could study engineering and English as a second language at Moorpark College.

``It was hard at the beginning because I could only understand about 2 percent of what the teacher said - `tomorrow' and `homework' were the only two words I understood,'' Guevara said.

But persistence - sometimes studying until 1 or 2 in the morning - the support of his close-knit family and a growing group of friends and mentors at the college kept him going.

``It's kind of hard because I was without my dad for almost 12 years because he was here and I was over in El Salvador,'' said Guevara.

``But he supports me and he said, 'No matter what it takes, Jaime, I will support you, even if I have to sell the house for you I will. Keep on going, don't give up.' ''

During his years at Moorpark College, Guevara learned English and excelled at the sciences, eventually becoming a tutor at the campus learning center.

Sandy Rowlett, 39, of Simi Valley met Guevara when she needed to brush up on her calculus, a requirement for the master's degree in physical therapy she hopes to pursue at California State University, Northridge.

``He's so good at explaining things and not judgmental, and very patient, and he takes his time and is very sympathetic and says nice words to everybody,'' she said. ``Now I consider him like a brother.''

Guevara's professors praised him for excelling at such difficult subjects as math and physics, especially since his native language is not English.

``He really has shown himself to be an outstanding student, and the difficulties he's overcome are just amazing,'' said Michael R. Mitchell, an engineering professor whom Guevara admires.

``It's difficult in engineering because it's a totally different jargon, and he's done outstandingly well, and he's also a nice young man, and he's very affable.''

Guevara also has found time for civic activities, including service work with the Alpha Gamma Sigma Society, serving as a vice president of the Associated Students and volunteering at the Moorpark Boys & Girls Club.

Guevara has been awarded several scholarships to study at UCLA, and he already is planning a master's degree in structural engineering that will allow him to teach. In March, he passed another milestone when he became a U.S. citizen.

But after years of toiling, he plans to visit friends and family this summer in El Salvador, to which he wants to return someday.

``If I ever make it, I want to go back and help build a bridge back there,'' Guevara said. ``That's one of the things that I really want to do.''

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Photo: (color) Moorpark College graduate Jaime Guevara earned four associate's degrees.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News