Career Roadmap
Luis's work combines: Business, Entrepreneurship, and Problem Solving
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Woodrow Wilson High School
Associate's Degree
El Centro College
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science and Government, General
The University of Texas at Austin
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Political Scientists:
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree: Political Science and Government, General
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
Received a full ride scholarship to attend Southern Methodist University and study Human Rights.
2.
Dropped out of SMU after dad became ill, waited tables and went to community college.
3.
Led a statewide campaign on health care and made a documentary with Univision.
4.
Received the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and transferred to UT. Interned with the Mayor of Dallas.
5.
Became a Bill Archer Fellow and interned in the White House.
6.
Become a part of the Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute.
7.
Started recruiting with consulting companies.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
As a community college student, we constantly hear people telling us to think smaller and be more realistic. We are also used to people closing doors for us. I learned the hard way that in community college you don't open doors, you create them.
How I responded:
Towards the end of my time at a community college, I was drained of energy and will power. Every day was a struggle to get out of bed and push myself to be the person that I knew I could be. Every day I would tell myself that I was "almost there." I didn't know where "there" was, but I knew that if I kept pushing I would find it. It turns out there was a full ride scholarship to any university I wanted, an acceptance letter from the University of Texas at Austin and an internship with the Mayor.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
During my first semester in college, my dad became severely ill. We racked up a quarter million dollars in debt. I started waiting tables and going to school full time to help my family. It wasn't easy, but I knew that family came first.
My first semester at a private university, everybody was talking about where they would be travelling to for the weekend. I never felt so poor in my entire life. I came to realize that my income should not define my opportunity or my happiness.
You never realize how expensive college is until you get there. The small things start adding up. My family was as lost as I was when it came to budgets and activities for college. I learned the hard way how dofficult and complicated college is.