👏 Recognizing José’s Contributions

Very good. Oh yeah. With that — come on up here.
The good thing about this gentleman is he had an advantage. He knew a lot already, and because of that, he was able to help, build relationships, teach, and mentor.
His attitude and willingness to do that — it was wonderful.
Thank you.

🎉 Passing the EPA & Giving Thanks

Thank you. Give me your hands.
I don’t know about you guys, but I passed the EPA. I ain’t worried about it — I know 100% I passed.
So first, I want to thank God, because without Him, we are nothing.
Second, I want to thank my girlfriend.
AC — don’t get mad at me, bro — but my girlfriend was the one who found this school. She read the reviews and did the research.
I had been looking for a good school. I even went all the way to Yongyang to see another one that offered 13 months of night classes twice a week. It was tough — I work, I live in Deltona — that was far.
I walked through that school, and it was mostly books. I said, “I want to learn how to braze. I want to do this hands-on.”
They told me, “If you get into a company, then you can practice that.”
I said, “No — this is not the school.”

🔍 Finding the Right Fit

So we kept looking, and she found this one — five stars. I liked Danny’s attitude.
He said, “Before you start, I want you to come and see if this is the right fit for you.”
I came by, there was already a class in session. He walked me through, and I definitely liked everything about it — because it’s hands-on. That’s what I was looking for.
Even though I had prior experience, I had to put everything I knew to the side so I could learn the right way.
And trust me — in just six weeks, I realized how many things I was doing wrong before.

🍕 Gratitude and Humor

Meanwhile… [Music] [Laughter]
Yes, I want to thank Mr. Dan, Andrew — great teacher — Rob (did I change his name?)
I’m bad with names, but yes, amazing teacher.
You guys know your stuff.
Elaine — I love Elaine. The only part I don’t like is that she charges me. Just two reasons.

💑 Personal Support

I want to thank my girlfriend again — she’s been very, very supportive.
She told me, “I got you. Go do your school.”
And when she says, “I got you,” she means everything. She really did get me here.
She’s a great woman. She’s a blessing.

🧡 Shoutouts to Classmates

I want to thank all of you — my classmates.
Because I’m bad with names, I’m going to say as many as I can.
Yolani, Kamar, Peter, Justin — where’s your name? Lucas, Cisco, Sarah (who’s not even here), Pat…
I think I got all of you, right?
Where’s my older brother? Danny — my older brother.

🧠 A Conversation with My Brother

I want to say something very quick.
I was talking to my older brother the other day. He was complaining about his life.
He’s an alcoholic and maybe has other struggles. We talked for over an hour, remembering our childhood.
We’re eight siblings — four sisters, four brothers. Our father wasn’t the best. He went to jail.
He’s been gone 15 years now — passed at 55 — but my brother still blames him for everything.
He was crying, and I just listened.
Then these words came to me:

“I know the enemy likes to use your testimony to destroy you. He throws it at your head to make you drink more, to make you give up.
But if you put yourself in God’s hands, He will use that same testimony to help others who are going through what you’re facing now.”

It’s up to you.
The enemy will keep saying: “Because of your father. Because of this. Because of that.”
But if you stop listening to that voice and give it all to God, He’ll turn it into something powerful.

🙌 From Excuses to Solutions

So it’s up to you.
We all have excuses: “Because of this, because of that.”
But focus on the solution.
Stop giving energy to the problem.
When you focus more on the solution, the problem starts to feel smaller.

I won’t be as long as Pete — [Laughter]

🏹 The Story of David and Goliath

David — the important director — right?
We were watching House of David (is it on Netflix or Prime? Prime!)
It’s amazing. It really impacted me.

Goliath — that guy — the whole army was scared of him.
But David was just like Yolani — young, the youngest in the family.
Not tall — but he heard Goliath talking bad about God, and he wanted to fight him.

His brothers said, “No way.”
But the king said, “Go ahead.”

Here’s the point:
When you face a giant in your life — don’t run away.
Run toward it.

If you run away, the giant grows bigger.
But if you run toward it and fight, like David did —
Take its head off. End it.

Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, fear — whatever your giant is, attack it.
Don’t avoid it.

And that’s it.