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Early childhood education sophomore Nicholas Ochoa spends six hours a week taking notes for a quadriplegic student.
He attends classes in student development and reading that he's not enrolled in.
He listens and takes an average of one to five pages of notes per class.
And his work-study job with disability support services does not end there.
He spends an additional six hours a week assisting Arthur Ortega, a computer science freshman, attending college for the first time.
Ochoa already is a full-time student taking 15 hours this semester, not including the 12 hours he spends assisting Ortega.
Ochoa assists Ortega by taking notes and "scribing" his homework.
He is also there when he takes his quizzes and tests.
When he scribes for Ortega, he listens to whatever he dictates and writes it down for him. For example, when they are doing math homework, Ortega will say the problem, and he will write it down.
Then, Ortega will tell him how to solve the problem, and he will write that down.
"He's the brains; I'm just the hands," Ochoa said.
Ochoa and Ortega attend the classes together, but Ochoa takes the notes.
When taking quizzes and tests Ortega will speak quietly to tell Ochoa the answer, so he can bubble it in or write it down for him.
Ochoa is paid $7.25 per hour through work-study, but for him the money is not what is important.
"Oh. I love it," he said, "The job stops at money.
"It's more of giving back and being able to help someone."
"We take a lot for granted, even being able to take notes in class."
Ochoa wanted to be the only one working with Ortega so there was a level of consistency in the note-taking and also in the hand writing. He said that the way he takes notes for Ortega differs from the way he takes notes for himself because he makes sure they are far more detailed and concise.
"There's a bigger sense of urgency when I'm taking his notes," Ochoa said.
Ochoa also spoke about the difficulties involved with note-taking.
"It's not an easy job," he said. "It's not something that you should get into if you're looking for something easy.
"You're going to have to sit through two classes you don't take. You have to take dual notes or carbon copies."
Ortega and Ochoa are also good friends. They both grew up on the same side of town, so they have some things in common. Both said they enjoy the time they spend together and hang out between classes.
"It's not busy work all the time," he said. "We hang out in between classes, laugh about stuff, and just talk about whatever."
Ortega feels good about his first semester at college and Ochoa helping him through it.
"It's pretty cool," Ortega said, "I like it."
Ochoa also wanted to make it a point that he is not so much helping Ortega because he is disabled but helping him adjust to his first year of college.
"A lot of people see the wheelchair before they see him, and it shouldn't be like that," Ochoa said.
"He's got the same brain, just differs in some physical aspects."
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