Eddy Medal

Walking anywhere from five to nine miles daily as he works around campus, Facilities Manager Eddy Medal describes himself as the “handyman of the school site.” His job entails managing the employees who maintain the physical appearance and function of the campus, including custodial, landscape and building maintenance. 

 

His first week working on campus was during the six 2020 graduation ceremonies, and Medal said he had to “learn real fast and hit the ground running” but was proud he was able to quickly adjust to the new environment. 

 

Born in Santa Clara and raised in Milpitas, Medal worked as a small engine mechanic, running a lawnmower shop before joining Santa Clara University as Lead Landscape Technician, initially working on landscaping and irrigation before shifting into facilities management. His job continued to expand from there as he took on more roles and gained familiarity with the campus. 

 

“At my previous job, I changed the whole campus with my two hands, and I would like to do the same here,” Medal said. “I take a lot of pride in my work, I take a lot of pride in my employees and I hope that I can have that same relationship here at Monta Vista.”

 

Medal enjoys the hands-on aspect of his work from his time as a mechanic, but has learned to rely on his team of employees as a manager.  

 

“I found my calling because I like to fix things — I'm a mechanic by trade,” Medal said. “So when things are broken, I just like to fix them and the work isn't really work. A lot of people veer away from work, where I'm like, ‘Wow, it's broken — let me fix this,’ and I want to dive into it.” 

 

Outside of work, Medal has a similar drive regarding his hobby of four wheeling and building cars. He recently built his wife a Jeep Wrangler and is currently working on customizing his own vehicle. Medal describes the hobby as an “evolving project” that is “never really finished.” 

 

Medal notes the contrast between how  higher education was inaccessible to him due to his socioeconomic status growing up, and his work in Education now.

 

“[Education has] always been important to me, it just wasn’t available to me,” Medal said. “So working in a college setting, it was nice to see kids thrive over there and they were given the opportunity I didn't have in my childhood. [My career] wasn't [an], ‘I wanted to do this in life.’ It was just given to me, it got dropped in my lap and it’s been really good for me. I came over here and I was like, ‘This is what I need to do, this is what I was meant to do.’”