One night while watching the Channel 12 News I saw Gil Alba as a guest speaker discussing investigations. The program announced that he was in the process of conducting a course at the Westchester Community College called "Detective for a day". I contacted the college the very next day and was able to secure a seat in his class.

He had been working on a missing person case and he allowed his class to very actively participate in his investigation by stimulating our minds and putting us to work towards a common goal. At this time, I shared with Mr. Alba my goal to develop a career in investigations. Right from the beginning, he said, "If this is what you want to do, I will help you get there". At that point, he became my mentor. He suggested going back to school, and advised me that getting a degree would ultimately help me to obtain the type of job I desired. Shortly thereafter I obtained a position as an investigator for a local law firm. By this time, taking Mr. Alba’s advice, I had already enrolled in college and was about to pursue obtaining a degree in criminal justice. I contacted Mr. Alba to inform him of my experience at the law firm, once again he encouraged me to keep moving forward and he said, "This is exactly why you want to get a degree.” In November of 2003, Gil conducted a two day seminar in New York City called "The Art of Investigation". Once again I became engrossed, not only by the information provided in the seminar, but in the way that the entire format was presented. I was in a room, surrounded by accomplished professionals, and I was given the same recognition. I knew that this was a rare opportunity and so I made the best of it.

Gil Alba has been and continues to be not only a mentor to me, but has fast become the image of the type of investigator that one day I would like to be.

Cesar A. Merello