William
Habermehl '73 (M.S. education-education administration), superintendent
of the Orange County Department of Education, knows that he received an
outstanding education at Cal State Fullerton. But he credits his classmates
- who went on to become successful in their own right - with contributing
greatly to his own success.
"The people you meet become almost a fraternal group - you feed off that, you see others' successes in life, keep in touch with them," Habermehl said. "I received a tremendous education at Fullerton, no doubt about it."
Along with his education, Habermehl believes he learned important lessons from his father, who imbued in him a strong work ethic.
And he believes that as superintendent of schools, he has the best job in the world. "It's big, it's dynamic. We're having a tremendous impact on all students. My success is more than 500,000 students are doing well in the schools," he says. "I know that quality education is taking place here."
Seeing
young players succeed in major league baseball is what Tony
Reagins '91 (B.A. business administration-marketing) enjoys most
about his work as general manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
"I have the ability to affect lives," Reagins says. "From a baseball standpoint, I'm empowering young kids to be successful at a high level."
Baseball has long been part of Reagins' life - he enjoyed playing the game as a youth and leapt at the chance to do an college internship with the Angels. From there, he has risen through the ranks to his present position. He benefited from the practical aspects of his Fullerton education: The advertising and marketing classes in which students analyzed successful businesses. "Those were eye-opening, and they still stick with me. Seeing business in practice is important."
He doesn't dare call himself a success. "I'm still learning," Reagins says. "The day I call myself a success is the day I stop getting better and doing my best."
Amid
the public appearances, speeches and testimony that are part of her everyday
work, Joann Schaefer '90 (B.S. biological science)
appreciates easing people's pain. "I like making people's lives better in
some way. That's what medicine is about," says Schaefer, the chief medical
officer of Nebraska Health and Human Services. "It is extremely rewarding
to draft policy for the whole state - there is hardly a day that goes by
that I don't come home and say, 'I made a difference for people.'"
Schaefer believes that her Cal State Fullerton undergraduate experiences prepared her for medical school, and what she has experienced afterward.
"I had an outstanding technical and scientific education that prepared me well for medical school," she recalls. "I do a lot of work with people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, people in need of help. Camp Titan was one of my best experiences in college, and I believe that helped prepare me for what I do today."
When
screenwriter Terry Rossio '84 (B.A. communications)
first entered Cal State Fullerton, he arrived as "the typical science fiction
geek - shy and insecure."
But in the film business, you've got to be confident, even arrogant. "Your agent calls and says you have two days to prep for a meeting with Steven Spielberg, to tell him what approach to take with his 'Zorro' film," he says. "Stuff like working on Communications Week, hosting the student film festival, it helped me get used to the spotlight."
Now known for co-writing such blockbusters as "Shrek," and "Pirates of the Caribbean," Rossio recalls professor Larry Ward challenging him in radio/TV/film courses.
He enjoys having an instant connection to people. "Just about anyone in the country, if I start chatting with them, they've seen a film I've done, maybe even have a copy at home."
Dave
Hirz '96 (B.A. business administration), president of Food 4 Less,
didn't begin college until he was 33 years old and already managing a grocery
store chain. "I was able to apply the lessons I learned the next day," Hirz
recalls. "In the real world, profit and loss statements, real-life decisions
and the types of things that we learned in our human resources class I'd
apply to my associates and my work."
Hirz remembers finance professors teaching real-world skills. "I learned about financial models and justifying investments. We applied those lessons when we opened our Las Vegas and Chicago stores."
He has always loved the grocery business - from the time he began his first job as a box boy at 16, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers.
"I enjoy the people in this business," he says. "I work with great people with a diversity of different skill sets. That makes it fun."