Jesse Velasquez came to the School of the Arts at the start of the fourth season. His first episode was Indian Summer where he lurked around the place, exhorting the values of being "men, in our sexual prime!" leaving most of the others asking "Who is that guy?" It was a question that was to be answered in the next episode Czech-Mate when he ran for student body president, announcing his campaign with his very own campaign song in the school grounds. When Morloch told him he couldn't run since he was only new to the school, he settled for running the campaign for Danny Amatullo.

It was during this episode that he first encountered Nicole Chapman, when she was campaigning for Doris Schwartz. Their first meeting was a round of verbal fisticuffs in the hallway, setting the pattern for their relationship. It took a while for them to get together - Nicole wasn't too keen on Jesse's reputation as a fast-talking ladykiller. When they did start going out together, Jesse felt that Nicole was smothering him (The Ballad of Ray Claxton) and wanted them to see other people. He soon changed his mind when Ray started paying attention to Nicole! Once they got that sorted out, Nicole's parents didn't like Jesse, leading them to convince Danny Amatullo to play boyfriend from hell to make Jesse look wonderful. (Danny de Bergerac) Their relationship also hit a rocky patch when Jesse wanted to have sex but Nicole didn't. (The First Time) The fact that he had a flirtation going on with Kate Reilly at the time didn't help matters. They broke up in the season 6 episode The Last Dance because Nicole wasn't sure of how much she loved Jesse anymore.

Originally it was thought that Jesse was from Puerto Rico, but in Dreams we learned that he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico, and he was going to be deported. When Nicole's parents wouldn't let him marry her to stay in the country, he married Doris. It was a marriage in name only, which the INS refused to recognise, and it was quickly annuled. Mr Shorofsky offered to adopt him, but Jesse was too old. He went on the run, but came back in time for a hastily convened "audition" in front of the INS agent. Nicole had found a clause to keep him in the country, extraordinary talent, which the agent was to be the judge of. As she later said in School is Out "I almost lost you Velasquez. One flat note and that'd have been it."

Jesse's background was important to him, and it was explored in Selling Out He wrote a song for a competition, based on what his grandfather used to tell him. The record people loved "The Other Side of the Road" but they wanted to change it, make it more rock-orientated. Jesse had to choose whether it was worth it to compromise the song, and his artistic integrity. When it came time to perform the song at the concert, he did it his way. When the backers told him that no-one would ever hear that song again, with the audience screaming for more in the background, Jesse simply told them, "They heard it tonight."

Jesse lives in the barrio, and worked in a grocery store which he lived at the back of. It was run by a man called Hector, who in many ways was a substitute father for Jesse. Hector warned him not to get involved in the gang war brewing between the Skulls and the Ravens, especially when the Ravens tried to get Jesse into their gang. However, when the Skulls killed Hector, Jesse ignored his friend's dying plea (Promise me no revenge) and Nicole's warnings and joined the Ravens. They brought the man who killed Hector to Jesse, and Jesse, armed with a knife, fought with him. He was poised to kill him when he let him go, telling the gang that "Hector would never forgive me"

One wonders whether it was a nice concidence or scriptwriting accident that Jesse's father figure was called Hector. It was a letter from Jesse's father which convinced Mr Schwartz to let Doris marry his daughter, and it was signed "Hector Velasquez"

Jesse sometimes had trouble in school, especially in biology. In Double Exposure he was suspected of stealing the paper for the biology midterm.

He was a DJ on the school radio station, and once helped a caller decide not to commit suicide. (W.S.O.A.)

Dusty fell for Jesse when she sang his song "Don't Turn Around" He wasn't sure how to handle it, and she ended up not talking to him. It was Nicole he turned to for advice in this situation, showing just how far they'd come as friends.

Jesse never stopped loving Nicole, even after they broke up with each other. He was devastated when she died (Go Softly Into Morning) and the object of his rage was the driver of the car, Mikey Garth. He interrupted Ian's radio show to taunt Mikey, telling him he wanted to see him. He attempted to kill Mikey, but was stopped by Danny Amatullo.

Jesse could be very jealous when he wanted to be. One such instance was when he felt Nicole was smothering him, but he didn't like it when Ray Claxton showed an interest in her. The same was true when he and Nicole broke up. He went to the Sadie Hawkins dance with Kate Reilly, but when he saw Joe Douglas dancing with Nicole, he ended up in a fistfight with him. This was just one facet of his passionate nature - Jesse Velasquez never did things by halves.

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