Celebrities aren’t just musicians or movie stars, but also people we see everyday in school hallways or simply crossing the street.
Ricky Vasquez, a UT MPA major, doesn’t let his busy lifestyle stop him from giving back to his community. He is a mentor for Project MALESÂ (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success). An organization focused on mentoring at-risk high school and UT males. Statistics show that Latino boys tend to fall more behind academically than Latina girls.
“I wanted to join project MALES in order to be that support and encouragement that I lacked.
Vasquez isn’t the only teacher in this process; he’s learned that mentoring is not as easy as it may seem.
“It requires much patience but every little thing you do makes a difference in the mentee’s life, even if it may not seem as so.”
When asked what changes he wants to see in his mentee’s future, he states that he wants to see him not only go to a community college but be able to advance to a four-year university and earn an even better degree.
Vasquez aspires to see the people he’s helped reach their goals and do greater things than he has.
“Essentially, I want to serve as a role model for someone who believes they won’t amount to anything,” said Vasquez.Â