the voice of the valley: former CHS student finds local fame

submitted by jose m. renteria
edited by sarina e. guerra

I never want to sound cliche with old sayings you especially hear when you’re growing up, but I have to admit that it has served me well. Always having creative ideas growing up, and well, still to this day, has kept me motivated and looking forward to constantly improving. I wouldn’t say that I was much different from your average kid, except for the fact that once I had a great idea about anything fun or exciting, I couldn’t let it go. This included my love of drawing, Halloween, horror movies and eventually, music. I realized much later that my childhood fixation on music was also attributed to having a fascination with sound (or audio) and the way in which it could spark a feeling and affect one’s emotions. I saw it as a powerful tool that the media has used to advertise and sell services, products and promote events. Though my primary focus during my teen years was on music and drawing, I knew that working in media would become my main passion once I was in…

I took Video Production with Mr. Chaney for three semesters at Calexico High School where we produced creative and effective audio/visual communication. I recalled the days when I was nine years old recording all types of silly things with my Kevin MacCallister Talkboy, as if I was paparazzi or a news reporter.

A young Jose

As an adult, the skills I gained throughout my youth greatly came in handy when it appealed to the masses. I’ve done work such as interpreting historical stories of the Imperial Valley, wildlife and land conservation, the Salton Sea, and the significance of our public lands. During those years throughout my 20’s, I thought about my own ability to effectively communicate a message. This all came from spending so much time in front of the TV as a kid, watching mesmerizing snack commercials, sitcoms, and cartoons in full color. I thought that it would be so fun to record voiceovers for advertisements, movie trailers, or cartoon characters just like the ones I saw, but I also thought that it was such a far-off and unreachable dream that it would never happen to me.

Jose in a friend’s studio recording original music; summer of 2003, Calexico

Carlos, Jose, and Chris after recording a re-enactment of Jose’s favorite movie, senior year

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