Panther Prestige
Accounting student Eli Bokori enjoying one of his passions, photography. Photo by Kris Tashjian
By Kris Tashjian
It is a "little" tough in any community college to be a star student, let alone be recognized for it, when the expectation is quickly in and even quicker out. Here, at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, we have many forward-thinking students, destined for successes of their own.
Among these star students is Accounting Club President Eli Bokori. Born in San Bernardino and raised in Fontana most of his life, Bokori, a business economics and accounting major, has his sights set on a new location: UCLA.
Coming from a single mother home, Bokori has been working for as long as he legally could. He worked his fair share of cafes, rotating all positions until about age 20. He learned enough to chase his first adult dream: freelancing in the entertainment industry. He soon learned there was something he liked even more than crew and production work, he was more interested in the business department.
“How were all these businesses running?”
With that thought, he knew numbers were something he understood even better than production, and enrolled at Chaffey College about two years ago, never losing his passion for film and media. Bokori strives to one day make his way back into the entertainment and film industry, but this time as an accountant. The most important lesson he learned was this: the few years it would take to go back to school were nothing compared to the uncertainty of moving up in the "real world" without a degree. This was the lesson where he realized, "you can easily work your way up on a set, but you can't easily work your way into a new production company"
Despite the challenges that seem normal to him at this point in life, Bokori has dreams in the stars, like all great figures in history, aiming to one day be a CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, of a prominent film production company. Bokori gave these last words as advice:
"Talk to each other, engage with each other, most students are going through similar obstacles, too, and you'd be surprised how much we can help each other out... use the resources at school, like tutoring... be outgoing... people want to get to know you. despite what you may think... Students would love to be more involved with the Breeze if the Chaffey community as a whole was involved"
Mutual benefits start here, at Chaffey College... GO PANTHERS!
