UTSA Commencement Close-Up: Zaida Flores, College of Public Policy
Share this Story(Dec. 18, 2013) -- Meet Zaida Flores. The Honors College student aims to use her degree to help immigrants become U.S. citizens.
It's a situation all too familiar to Flores. As a young child, she was an immigrant, and it wasn't until 2007 that she earned her green card. Recently, she became a U.S. citizen, an unforgettable moment that made her very proud.
She plans to give back and enable others to have the same sense of pride and achievement that she has attained at UTSA.
When Flores first enrolled at UTSA, everything was new to her. She was used to the small town life of Giddings in East Texas, and she found it a challenge to balance social life with classes.
But she says UTSA was the perfect fit, and she credits three people with helping make the university and San Antonio her home away from home.
Her mother was her rock. She taught Flores the values of working hard and never giving up on your dreams. Likewise, Freshman Composition instructor John Helton taught Flores the importance of discipline and of persistence in getting through tough times. Marilyn Caskey, who owns a small clothing consignment shop and for whom Flores has worked for nearly three years, has been a strong mentor -- a person Flores characterizes as being selfless and devoted to helping others.
The best advice the criminal justice major ever received was to not let failure get you down, to look for the good in what you've done and then figure out how to better it next time.
"I'm sad and happy and scared about graduating," said Flores. "I'm sad because I'm going to miss the people I've come to know here because it has been like a second home. I'm happy because I'll be moving on to my future and seeing what opportunities that are there. I'm scared because you never know what the future holds, but I think that's a good thing. I have learned so much at UTSA about learning how to be self-reliant and always doing your best."
Flores graduates this month with her bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a minor in psychology.
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Events
Join the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.
