DECEMBER 11, 2020 — As a lifelong Texan born in the small town of Saint Hedwig, Chandler Santos desired to create and grow a business with interests in tech. After having his personal information exposed during a security breach during middle school, he learned about malicious threats, pulling him down a rabbit hole of privacy issues. Feeling compelled to be part of the solution, he decided to pursue a degree in cybersecurity.
“No one ever told me to be in cybersecurity; there were no influences outside myself,” said Santos, who just completed his bachelor of business administration in cybersecurity and information systems from UTSA’s College of Business.
Although his mother completed a college degree by enrolling part-time, Santos likes to view himself as a first-generation college student. He was the first in his family to have a full college experience, which helped him make the best out of his time at UTSA. After seeing a few friends land job offers, he started forming relationships with fellow students active in organizations.
“I started sacrificing my time to get into new roles, doing anything and everything for them,” added Santos.
He joined the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization at UTSA, finding a calling as vice president. He learned about vital resources within the College of Business and felt the need to share the essential resources with cybersecurity students. His involvement with Start-Up Grind UTSA gave him the opportunity to speak to local chief executives.
“When the first time came around, talking to CEOs was nerve-racking,” Santos said about his feelings when approaching the senior leadership. “Over time the conversations morphed from contrived, inauthentic dialogue to informal talks while maintaining a level of professionalism.”
The CompTIA nonprofit organization stands out as his most significant social impact while at UTSA. Despite COVID-19 and its challenges, Santos managed to grow the organization to more than 200 members. Starting the chapter has allowed students to connect over robust study sessions online, despite their busy schedules. According to Santos, these students not only gain confidence but also see job offers before graduating.
The nonprofit organization led to another networking opportunity: Rowdy Con, a conference featuring a full slate of tech speakers. His involvement allowed him and other students to foster long-term relationships with industry professionals, which he believes is vital to student success.
“If you’re not doing it, you’re wasting your time,” exclaims Santos about student involvement. “If you are a new student in your first semester, I encourage you to get involved from Day One.”
Santos’ future is solid. He is contracted with Ferrari of San Antonio to develop and secure its website and assets. He aspires to work for a Fortune 500 company that focuses on innovation and growth. He also would like to seek a research and development position as part of a team that builds products from scratch while maintaining a welcoming business culture that values its employees.
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Día en la Sombrilla, formerly Fiesta UTSA, is a festival hosted each spring as a part of Fiesta® San Antonio events. Sponsored by Roadrunner Productions, the event features music, food, confetti, games, event t-shirts, and more.
Sombrilla Plaza, Main CampusCovidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
