2017: Jefferson Tiangco
Jefferson Tiangco
Class of 2005
Jefferson Tiangco was born and raised in the Philippines and pursued his education
as an accountant in his country. In 2003, he and his family moved to the US to pursue
new opportunities.
Jefferson recalls the culture shock when he arrived in the US and found the language
barrier to be intimidating. Not only were the English language and culture challenging,
he also faced financial struggles not having a permanent home or vehicle for several
years. However, his willingness and determination to succeed were much greater than
the challenges. He knew that education would assist him, so he enrolled at Norco College
in fall 2003. He set high goals, which began with just four college courses.
Jefferson continued his education and graduated from Norco College in 2005. He transferred
to California State University, Fullerton, and in 2008 he graduated summa cum laude
with a baccalaureate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting
and a minor in Spanish.
He began working for Norco College shortly after graduation as an instructional support
specialist and credits Norco College for preparing him with not only his education,
but also his work experience. Tiangco recalls several significant accomplishments
while at Norco College: he developed the College website after accreditation, started
social media accounts, technology training, and developed class schedules, and worked
on a variety of projects.
A couple of years later, Jefferson decided to continue his education and went back
to Cal State Fullerton. In 2014, he earned a master’s degree in Education with a Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) emphasis. He then took on part-time
teaching positions as an ESL instructor at Fullerton College and Norco College – all
while working full time. His passion and talent for teaching grew so strong that he
pursued and earned a full-time teaching position at Fullerton College.
