Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Fire Preparatory Academy
2017
Firefighting Has Always Been His Dream Job
Ruben Real was never one to sit around and wait. After getting married at 20 years old and divorced the next year, he is now a single dad with a beautiful daughter who is now 10 years old. His daughter has become his priority in everything he does.
Growing up, Ruben was very lean, which led to him to feel uncomfortable about his size. This motivated him to start working out and reading motivational books on opportunity, discipline and working out.
He went from high school to working in an Amazon Distribution center, then moved over to Waste Water Management. After working in that field for six years, he felt stuck and wanted to help his community in a different way. "I wanted a career that I thought would challenge me physically and mentally," Ruben said. "I’ve been able to move up in my jobs rather quickly."
Initially, he went to a sister college (Glendale Community College) for general classes. At lunch one day, he saw a fireman at a restaurant and struck up a conversation to seek out a sponsor from the fire station. After meeting the Avondale Station Fire Chief, he recommended that he check out the SouthWest Skill Center EMT program. Ruben says, "I met some amazing instructors and the program was exactly what I needed to build my confidence and know I was heading in the right direction. I went on a few ride-alongs with the fire crew and I was hooked!"
After interviewing with Goodyear to become a cadet, he sat for the National Registry and was hired in the first round. Again, Ruben showed he didn’t wait for things to come, he liked to go get them.
Moving forward, Ruben's goal is to learn everything he can as a fireman, then progress in his career to become an engineer and eventually a captain.