When Mateo Aristizabal graduated from high school in 2020, he thought finance was his path. He enrolled at the University of Florida, but by 2021, he had decided it wasn’t for him, but he was unsure about his next move.
“I had kind of just been living day to day, just not really knowing what direction to take,” Mateo says. “I moved back in with my parents, started working at an arcade, but realized I needed to truly think about my future.”
Then, after moving back home to Orlando, he discovered Valencia College’s Accelerated Skills Training (AST) program in optics and photonics. And everything clicked.
“I didn’t know anything about optics before, but I did some research, and it seemed like a very good industry to get into,” Mateo says. “It was the first semester they were offering it, and it sounded pretty interesting.”
What he found inside the optics classroom excited him.
“It stood out to me just how hands-on it was,” he says. “I went in expecting a lot of theory, but most of the class time was actually focused on training us for the industry. I really appreciated that it was very focused on preparing us for the workforce, while also giving us the foundation if we wanted to continue our education later on.”
That preparation paid off quickly. Mateo graduated in February 2024 and less than a month later, landed a full-time job at Orlando-based Ocean Optics working as a spectrometer technician.
“In high school, I never thought I’d be a STEM person or go into engineering,” he says. “And now I’m studying again, and in a few years, I’ll be graduating as an engineer.”
“It came just when I needed it,” he says. “It was divine providence, and it opened up the door to a lot of opportunities.”
Even with a steady job, Mateo’s ambition didn’t stop there. He recently re-enrolled at Valencia to pursue his associate’s degree in STEM, with plans to earn a bachelor’s in engineering.
Mateo with his Certificate of Completion from the Valencia College Optics, Photonics and Fiber Optics program.
“In high school, I never thought I’d be a STEM person or go into engineering,” he says. “And now I’m studying again, and in a few years, I’ll be graduating as an engineer.”
For anyone unsure about their future, Mateo’s advice is simple and clear: Go for it.
“If you’re looking for a new career, this is definitely a great one to have,” he says. “The optics industry is only going to continue to grow. Keep an open mind—it never hurts to learn.”
Mateo and his class look at the power of light using optics to protect their eyes, of course.
Mateo (second from the right) with his gradating class.