Kevin Chavez

With his academic interest in herpetology, Kevin Chavez, zoology ’20, anticipates a future in amphibian and reptile research. While he studies at Tech, he is also finding his place as a leader and mentor.

 

Mexican in heritage, Chavez is from Nashville and found support for his transition from high school to college in the RACE, Reaching Achievement and Committed to Excellence, multicultural affairs peer mentoring program at Tech.

“RACE helped me fight the fear of going to college,” Chavez said. “Being a mentor now, I see how it helps the mentees.”

Now that he has transitioned from RACE mentee to mentor, mentorship and community support have become especially important to him. That’s why he is working to found a FUTURO chapter at Tech.

“FUTURO is an organization that focuses on helping Hispanic students progress from college to career,” Chavez explained. “It is all about networking and promoting career readiness.”

Chavez knows from experience that encouragement and mentorship can make a big impact.

“I started out really shy,” Chavez said. “The RACE program helped me overcome that shyness. I am doing a lot more on campus now.”

With a program like FUTURO, Chavez hopes to see those positive relationships for minority students on campus grow.