Where Are They Now? John DelBosque

John DelBosque was always an artistic person. When he was in school, “I was drawing all the time,” he said.

But although he found an outlet in creativity, DelBosque struggled in the school environment. After spending nearly his entire school career in Dublin, he ended up getting expelled from Dublin High School for fighting. He spent a few months at the Paradigm Accelerated Charter School, but got in a fight there too.

DelBosque’s parents were separated, and his mom lived in Georgia. “My dad had transferred me over here and I ended up moving to Atlanta with my mom,” he said. “I got to kind of straighten my life up.”

Sincethen,he’scompletely turned his life around. DelBosque now has a successful career in the dental field, which he balances with creative work — graphic and web design and music production — on the side.

DelBosque graduated from high school in 2003, and immediately went to a technical college to study multimedia and web design. He earned his degree within a year and launched into being a full-time freelance designer. “I did CD covers, flyers, posters, business cards, I could make websites,” he said.

DelBosque found most of his work through word of mouth, and enjoyed the variety of projects he was able to take on. His favorite work is design that allows him to incorporate animated elements.

Around 2010, DelBosque’s friend asked if he might be interested in a full time position working in an Atlanta dental laboratory. After years of freelancing, a full-time job sounded appealing, so he started off working there in the shipping and receiving department.

“As time went on I got curious and would go to the back more, watch people work in the back, and they would just be like, ‘Sit down,” and they would teach me how to do stuff,” he said. “From there it just took off. I learned everything hands-on.”

Over the years, he worked his way up in the lab, taking on more and more responsibilities until he became a full technician.

DelBosque loves his job. He gets to make dental implants, crowns, sports guards for boxers,; almost anything needed in the dental field. “I’ll stay here for a while,” he said. “I’m not planning on leaving any time soon.”

In addition to his dental technician job, DelBosque keeps busy professionally. He takes on a couple of freelance design projects each month. He also works with one of his friends who has a building restoration company, mostly helping with mold problems by ripping out carpet and drywall and treating the structures with chemicals to prevent the problem from recurring.

Another of his passion projects is music. When DelBosque first moved to Atlanta, he met some friends who enjoyed making music, and they would play together as a group. DelBosque continues to make music, and has taken on work as a producer for other artists as well.

DelBosque currently lives in Winder, Georgia, about 30 minutes from downtown Atlanta, with his wife Alejandra. They have been together for 17 years, and have one daughter, Melody. They had another child, Lyric, who passed away from cerebral palsy the day after his fourth birthday.

DelBosque’s father, Jesse DelBosque, lived in the Dublin area until he passed away in 2014. His mother, Mary Moreno, is now back in Dublin.

Throughout his life, DelBosque has found inspiration in encouraging role models such as Dr. Ronald Johnson, the former superintendent of the Paradigm school, and Darren and Rebecca Browder, two of the teachers. “They gave me great advice,” he said.

He also found motivation to pursue his career in an attempt to break out of the pattern he’d seen some of his family members fall into. “I have a couple of brothers that went to the penitentiary and I just wanted to do better for myself, so when I got sent over here [to Georgia] I just started doing better because I didn’t want to fall into the prison stereotype,” he said.

DelBosque’s advice to Dublin students is to stay positive and believe that things can get better, no matter what situation they are in. “Keep your head above water, because there are better days ahead,” he said. “Don’t ever give up, and don’t ever think you can’t — you always can.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.