Going Far: Alumnus Gustavo Diaz Galeas gives back by volunteering

Seminole State Alumnus Gustavo Diaz Galeas is showing his gratitude for the assistance he has received by volunteering his time to help others achieve their educational goals.  

Gustavo Diaz Galeas decided to apply for a Jack Kent Cooke transfer scholarship after reading the inspiring story of Seminole State alum and fellow JKC scholar Tatiana Calvo, a recipient from 2016. Like Calvo, Diaz Galeas was an undocumented immigrant in the U.S., and he and his family received permanent U.S. residency after he was selected as a JKC scholar.
 
These days, Diaz Galeas attends the University of Central Florida and is slated to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering in Spring 2020.
 
At UCF, he is involved in a number of student organizations, such as the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the Dreamers@UCF, and Hack@UCF. Diaz Galeas has also been elected into the STEM Ambassadors program as part of the Center for Initiatives in STEM (iSTEM) for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years.
 
Due to his involvement in the program, Diaz Galeas was able to network with another ambassador who volunteered at a local high school to help a faculty member teach an AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course by covering the fundamentals of computer programming and more advanced topics to the students in the class using the Python programming language. As this other ambassador graduated in the summer of 2018, he asked Diaz Galeas to take over his volunteer role. Since Fall 2018, Diaz Galeas has been visiting the students once weekly to teach Python programming to two AP CSP courses, while also being responsible for the development and write-ups for all programming assignments and helping the students understand how to debug their programs.
 
Diaz Galeas is grateful for the opportunity to apply for a JKC graduate scholarship, which is exclusive to current JKC Scholars, as it opens even more opportunities for him following his anticipated graduation in 2020.

 Social Media Handles:
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavo-diaz-galeas-280502146/