Alan Kramer
Bachelor of Science in Honors Physics

During his 16 years as a Mercedes Benz repairman, Kramer’s co-workers didn’t understand his dream of attending college. Few of them even had a high school education, let alone any college.

The 38-year-old Agoura Hills resident married right out of high school and had two children to support. Finally, 11 years ago, Kramer began taking night classes at a community college near his New Jersey home while continuing to work days at the job he found “unfulfilling.”

In 1992, the Kramers moved to California to be near his wife’s family. Kramer attended Pierce College, and then transferred to CSUN. Fall 1998, Kramer recalled, “was the decisive moment. I could no longer take any evening classes. All the classes I needed were during the day.” Kramer transferred to a Mercedes dealership that would let him work part-time.

“It was very, very difficult financially. It had an incredible impact on the way we lived. I took my children out of private school, let the nanny go. My wife was very angry. No vacations, much less dining out, no buying toys, we had to sell one of the cars,” Kramer said.

Now, Kramer has a degree and his first professional job. He reported June 5 to work as a process engineer at Spectrolab, a division of Hughes Aerospace Inc., in Sylmar. Kramer’s job involves analyzing the production of solar panels for communications satellites.

While working, Kramer plans to continue attending CSUN at night, pursuing a master’s degree in physics.

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