Mr. TAMIU Candidate: Alejandro De la Fuente

I am Alejandro De la Fuente a well-rounded senior level engineering student with a unique combination of educational and leadership experience. I am humbled to be in this race against some of the best students at TAMIU, who have dedicated their time and efforts to this institution. Here at TAMIU, I have been able to grow and show my passion, pride, and commitment to the maroon and silver colors. Currently, I am a Student Success Mentor at the Office of Recruitment & School Relations. As a student-athlete, I have battled in more than 60 soccer games leading the Men's soccer team to win its second straight Heartland Conference Title, earning #15 in the nation for first time in school history, and most importantly, representing TAMIU at the state and national platform.

In addition to assist the university in promoting and continuing to advance spirit, pride and tradition among all students, I have volunteered in activities geared toward the children, elderly and neglected members of our community. I am a catalyst and motivator to other fellow students. In my different roles at TAMIU, I have been able to promote the TAMIU's mission to prospective students, alumni, and the community in general.

The question is, do we really care about the future of TAMIU? I do, and I want to share my vision because developing a stronger relationship between the student body population and student athletes can mean greater school spirit for this university. The future is now, and we need to get to work. It is of course a process that will happening at this university little by little and it will take a team effort. I want to encourage everybody to step out of their comfort zone, and engage with other students. There are many opportunities to interact with people on campus, for example, Spirit Week starting with maroon Monday's followed by the shopping cart parade and a few basketball and baseball games.

In the 4 years that I have been at TAMIU, I have been blessed to meet wonderful people that have impacted my life in a positive way. It is because of people like these that I want to give back to the TAMIU/Laredo community. If selected as Mr. TAMIU, I want to share with everybody my passion and love for this university with the purpose of inspiring future Dustdevils. It is time for all the students, faculty and staff to come together as one university and start new traditions, a new legacy that will benefit the future leaders of the South Texas.

I can say that there is something outstanding and special about TAMIU. Because in the end what makes a university successful, it's the participation of its own people. If we ever want to put TAMIU in the national map, we need to take action and make our voices be heard.  We all know what a wonderful and unique institution TAMIU is… and everyone should know it.