Owning one’s home is often described as the “American Dream,” and now a group of seniors may soon have the opportunity to help people make this possible.

In December, seven Akins seniors were recognized for earning their Level 1 Certification in Real Estate from Austin Community College. Besides their general education dual credit classes these students in the Early College High School Academy completed 18 hours of college coursework to earn this certification.

These are the first set of students graduating from what is called a P-TECH Program, which is a state program that stands for Pathways of Technology Early College High School. John Rodriguez, academy coordinator for the Early College High School Academy, said what makes P-TECH different than other early college programs offered at Akins is that it provides students with career-focused training.

Real estate students take classes with professors who have worked in real estate and have received support and training from the Austin Board of Realtors, which is made up of people who have worked in the Austin real estate industry.

“The main thing is that workplace learning,” Rodriguez said.

Senior Christian Cortinez, who has studied mortgage lending in the ACC program, said he hopes to get into residential real estate after graduating and earning his real estate license.

“I want to create those dream homes for families,” Cortinez said. “There’s a lot of memories involved in someone buying the first house and I’d like to be part of that.”

Joe Hammond, who is an ACC real estate professor and a licensed real estate agent for more than 16 years, began teaching Akins students after he worked as a substitute teacher for a day.

“I had a chance to meet the students in the program and see their commitment and enthusiasm,” he said.

Hammond said that he teaches his students that the real estate business helps friends, family, and clients to build intergenerational wealth.

“Our communities need education on how to build communities and support our families for the benefit of their financial future,” he said.

Senior Anthony Viegas said he was drawn into real estate because of his family’s financial struggles.

“Seeing my family struggle financially,” he said.

He said students in the program learn skills that they will be expected to understand later in life, including time management, perseverance through difficulties, and meeting deadlines.

“The expectations are the same as the experience you get through your education,” he said. “If you can do your best to remove barriers, you will be well-positioned to succeed.”

Senior Edgar Salgado said he was motivated to join the program because his family is in the real estate industry.

“I’m pursuing real estate because my family does it as well. So they’re just like a big motivation to me,” Salgado said.

Hammond said real estate is a big part of the U.S. economy, representing about 20% of its gross domestic product (GDP). This makes it an important career field for Akins students to consider pursuing, he said.

“There are so many areas of real estate you can get involved in that do not have to be sales,” he said. “All personality types work in real estate, and there is a place for you. The most important part of the real estate business is that it allows us to help our friends, family, and clients to support intergenerational wealth building.”