When Dr. Armando Cervantes tells San José City College students that dreams don’t have deadlines, he speaks from experience: his journey from uncertain student to physician began in the very same classrooms where they now sit.
As he looked out over the rows of students gathered inside the MESA Center on Tuesday, he saw versions of himself. They were curious, uncertain, and full of potential. “I was literally sitting where you are,” he told them. “Same building, same hopes, same fears.”
Growing up in a working-class San José neighborhood, Cervantes didn’t imagine a future beyond high school. The son of Mexican immigrants, he was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Downtown College Prep (DCP). Like many first-generation students, he found himself navigating higher education without a roadmap. “No one before me had done it,” he said. “I was figuring it out as I went.”
His path to becoming a physician was anything but direct. Before medicine, there was advertising.
A Detour Through Advertising
Cervantes earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising from San José State University. He landed a coveted job at a top advertising agency in Long Beach. He was young, ambitious, and successful by any conventional measure. “It was fun,” he recalled. “We’d go to radio studios, record ads, meet with clients. I loved the creative side.”
But behind the glossy campaigns and client dinners, something gnawed at him. “I was 22 and realized: this is it? Waking up, working 12 hours, coming home too tired to do anything? I thought, this can’t be life.”
So he quit—without a plan. He moved back to San José, back to his parents’ house, and began to rebuild. “I had to humble myself,” he said. “I went from being the independent college graduate to living with my family again, unsure of what came next.”
An Accidental Calling
One day, over lunch with a friend, he learned about an EMT course. “I figured, why not? I’ll take the class with you.” That decision changed everything.
“I am grateful to have taken the EMT course and work on the ambulance because it was my first exposure to the healthcare world,” Cervantes said. “Although ambulance work wasn’t a fit for me, I wouldn’t be where I’m at without it.”
He considered nursing but ultimately looked for another route.
A Moment of Clarity
“There are many roles in medicine that would allow me to apply my knowledge of the human body and fulfill my desire to give back. I did not yet know I wanted to be a physician, but I knew I had found the field I wanted to be in,” he said.
A major turning point for Cervantes came during a conversation with a classmate. She had dreamed of being a pediatrician since she was a little girl. However, she was beginning to have doubts.
“I felt bothered that she would consider anything other than becoming a doctor,” he said. “I was upset that there was another missed opportunity of having a community role model, someone who would work with the underserved population; minority representation in the medical field. I was upset that I was losing my doctor.”
At that moment, he recognized the value of becoming a physician.
“I began to understand why my mother would wait hours to see a physician who spoke her language. Or why, to this day, my father delays healthcare for an illness,” he said. “There is a cultural uneasiness with healthcare providers within my community.”
He decided to pursue medicine, not just as a career, but as a mission. From that point forward, he dedicated himself entirely to the long, grueling road ahead. “This”—he pointed to a photo of his younger self with long hair and a 2.4 GPA—”will not get you into medical school.”
Finding a Second Home at San José City College
San José City College became his laboratory for reinvention. Cervantes dove into his science prerequisites with focus and humility. He found mentors who believed in him and peers who shared his sense of purpose.
“It’s hard to imagine a future you’ve never seen,” he told the students. “For me, SJCC showed me what was possible. I saw people like me, working hard, facing the same barriers—and succeeding.”
He spent countless nights in the METAS Center tutoring classmates, leading study groups, and rediscovering his love of learning. “I tell students all the time: your path doesn’t have to be straight,” he said. “You can pivot. You can start over. The beauty of your story is that it’s yours.”
After years of persistence, Cervantes was accepted to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. “When I got that acceptance letter, it felt like everything—the doubts, the setbacks, the jobs that didn’t work out—finally made sense.”
The Hardest Years
Medical school was brutal. “I went from being a top student to being average among students from top universities around the country,” he said. “That messes with your head.” Surrounded by high-achieving peers, he battled imposter syndrome daily. “You start thinking, do I belong here? The answer is yes. You absolutely belong.”
To stay motivated, he invented imaginary patients. “When I didn’t want to study, I’d tell myself, ‘This hour is for Mr. Martinez. He’s waiting for me to graduate so I can take care of him.’ That was my why.”
In Iowa, far from the Bay Area’s sunshine, he endured long winters and weekly exams. “There were times I hated it. I thought, I’ve given up my twenties for this? But I kept going.”
He told students about the “Chinese bamboo tree” parable. Farmers water and fertilize it for five years before it breaks the surface. Then, within weeks, it shoots up 90 feet. “That’s how success works,” he said. “You’re building roots underground. One day, you’ll sprout—and people will say, ‘Wow, that happened fast.’ But you’ll know it didn’t.”
Lessons in Persistence
Throughout his talk, Cervantes shared three core lessons. Your path doesn’t have to be straight. You must find your “why.” Time is your most valuable asset.
“Where are you spending your time?” he asked. “Are you trading your time for money, or investing it in your future?”
He cautioned against letting fear of debt derail dreams. “When I went back to school, I saved every penny to buy myself time. Don’t sacrifice what you really want for what you want right now. A $10,000 loan feels huge—but if that gets you to a six-figure career, it’s worth it.”
His advice wasn’t romanticized. “Success takes work,” he said. “Everybody says they want to be successful, but they don’t want it more than they want to scroll on their phones. You have to want it as bad as you want to breathe.”
Mentorship and Meaning
After earning his medical degree and completing residency in 2020, he returned to San José to practice medicine.
He mentors pre-med and pre-PA students across the Bay Area. He guides them through the maze of prerequisites, applications, and self-doubt. “Sometimes, you just need someone to tell you it’s possible,” he said.
Cervantes believes deeply in visibility and representation. “It’s hard to imagine a future you’ve never seen,” he said. “That’s why I keep coming back to talk with students. I want them to see that success looks just like them, talks just like them, and walks just like them. If I’m able to inspire even just one student, then I’ve done my job.”
He credits SJCC for giving him the foundation—and the community—that shaped his journey. “This place gave me the courage to start over,” he said. “It’s where I realized that dreams don’t have deadlines.”
“For me, SJCC showed me what was possible. I saw people like me, working hard, facing the same barriers—and succeeding.”
Dr. Armando Cervantes
Students peppered him with questions: about pivoting careers, about age and self-doubt, about C grades and second chances. His answers were pragmatic, warm, and often laced with humor.
To a 36-year-old considering medical school: “Why not? You’re going to be 40 anyway. Why not be 40 and a doctor?”
To a shy student afraid of public speaking: “This is a skill. I’m an introvert too. You can learn it. You can learn anything.”
He emphasized that authenticity matters more than checking boxes. “I didn’t do research. I didn’t have legacy connections. What I had was community service and heart. Be who you are. That’s what makes you stand out.”
A Doctor Who Remembers Where He Came From
Cervantes’s humility resonates deeply with students at SJCC, many of whom are first-generation and working multiple jobs. “I see myself in them,” he said after the event. “They remind me why I do this.”
He credits SJCC for giving him the foundation—and the community—that shaped his journey. “This place gave me the courage to start over,” he said. “It’s where I realized that dreams don’t have deadlines.”
His story, he told them, isn’t about becoming a doctor—it’s about becoming himself. “I failed a lot. I started over more than once. But every failure was just a pivot, not an ending.”
The students clapped and leaned forward, taking in his story of second chances and self-discovery.
“You plus a little bit of motivation equals success,” he told them, smiling.
