By Linah Mohammad/se news editor

Bzzzzzz! 

Students in Julio Casablanca’s class were laughing as their teacher fulfilled his bald challenge.

“My son is very upset. He told me that he doesn’t want a bald father,” said Casablanca as one of his students, Kalum Thomas, shaved his head.

The SE Cisco adjunct challenged his students that if 10 students passed the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician industry exam by Dec. 31, he would shave his head.

Well, 11 passed, and one of them is a barber.

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“We have a really good program that’s split into four groups. For every two classes, you get one certification,” Casablanca said. “The first one is the intro level, and it’s very intimidating.”

Casablanca said the idea of the challenge came about because the students in intro level are intimidated by the test.

“The test, actually, is very difficult, and not a lot of people pass it,” he said. “But I never said that in front of my students. Throughout the past semester, we made fun of it, and we prepped. So I challenged them, and they did well. This class has the highest certification rate.”

However, Shawn Larson, a community and industry education student, said he didn’t find the test hard because he’s been working in information technology for a while.

The TCC program teaches students the skills needed to pass the Cisco Career certification. According to Casablanca, the difference between majoring in computer networks and getting certified is the difference between getting a job or not.

“The opportunity for students to come here on this program is really a blessing,” he said.

TCC’s program takes two years.

“It took me 10 years to finish this program,” Casablanca said.

Casablanca’s students were excited to see him shave his head.

“He told us that he had never shaved and that he doesn’t even know what’s down there,” said student Adetunji Adebamiji.

Vinn Huynh, one of the challenged students, said he had been waiting for this moment since “Mr. Casablanca claims he’s born with a moustache, and sometimes says he’s a Chia Pet.”

Now that Casablanca’s head is clean-shaven, he said, “I’m going to wear a bow tie and look like Churchill.”