HONOR ROLL

Coming full circle

Army veteran and counterintelligence officer deepens expertise in defense with USC Gould

By Becca Von Sambeck In 2000, John Esparza was hit with disappointment when he received the news he had not gained admission to USC to pursue his bachelor’s degree.

More than two decades later, he graduated from his dream school after completing the online Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program at USC Gould School of Law.

“It’s a full circle moment, a lifelong journey completed 22 years later. It’s quite a goal to achieve for myself, a personal goal I had,” Esparza says.

Esparza pursued higher education elsewhere, but paused his studies to join the Army as a counterintelligence special agent.

“I had a lot of great opportunities open up to me in the military. I was deployed to Iraq twice, and I was stationed in Korea for a year. When I got out in 2009, I stayed on the East Coast and got a job in Washington D.C. and worked in the defense contracting sector for a couple of years, and then I decided it was time to finish out my degree,” he says.

Esparza went back to school full time at American University to study film, writing and directing a short film that was part of the GI Film Festival in D.C. He graduated in 2021.

He previously earned a certificate in Homeland Security and Public Policy from USC before being hired as a counterintelligence officer by the U.S. Department of Defense, where he’s worked for the past nine years.

Still, Esparza felt his USC journey was not quite over.

As a counterintelligence special agent in the Army, online MSL student John Esparza was deployed to Iraq twice and stationed in Korea for a year. With the support of his wife, he completed the MSL program. REALIZING AN EDUCATIONAL DREAM

“When I was looking to pursue a graduate degree, I always thought of USC as where I wanted to be. I saw there were degrees available in law, and especially with the Privacy Law and Cybersecurity Certificate, it made sense as that was very applicable to what I’ve been doing at work,” he explains. Working in intelligence, Esparza is well aware of the laws and regulations the government must adhere to, and he knew a deeper understanding of the law would be “very beneficial” to his career. Reflecting on his MSL coursework, Esparza noted “Business Organizations” as a particular program highlight, as he was able to immediately put the learnings to use at his current position.

As a working professional and father of two young children, Esparza needed the flexibility of an online graduate program. He noted that he would not have been able to complete the program without the support of his wife, who was fully on board with his higher education goals.

“I would talk to my wife about the potential graduate programs I was looking at, and she would always say, ‘Don’t just do it just for a degree, do it because you’re going to really enjoy the courses and it’s going to benefit you in the future.’ That’s great advice, and when I found the MSL program, I had her support,” he said. This article was originally published on USC Online.