Alumni and Friends Making an Impact
Investing 107 Hours
Sophomore Caiden Guzman understands the value of time and invests it in making a positive impact on the world around him through outreach and his chosen major.
When Guzman was young, he aspired to become an astronaut. Over the years, he realized he instead wanted to be part of the team making space exploration possible.
“It is the team behind the team that lays the foundation for others to succeed,” said Guzman. “It is what my parents did for me, their parents did for them, and what I have set as the goal for my time at the University of Dayton.”
In his quest to become part of that foundational team, Guzman sought schools offering aerospace engineering degrees. He visited several schools in Ohio that had the program, as well as MIT. After the visits, UD’s program felt right to him.
He and his family talked with several people on campus, including the vice president of enrollment, the School of Engineering dean and an admission adviser who Guzman described as “incredible and caring.” Guzman decided to become a Flyer because he felt cared for from day one and UD’s mechanical engineering with an aerospace engineering concentration was the right fit for him. Another factor was the financial aid package UD offered, which included the Sheehy Memorial Scholarship.
Guzman is grateful to scholarship donors who laid a foundation on which he can succeed at the University and beyond. And the mathematician in him calculated the time given to him by not having to work to earn money, thanks to the Sheehy Memorial Scholarship — 107 hours.
And the mathematician in him calculated the time given to him by not having to work to earn money, thanks to the Sheehy Memorial Scholarship — 107 hours.
He invested that time in several University-based activities. A few highlights include:
- tutoring others as a math and physics tutor for the Multi-Ethnic Engineers Program.
- being involved in outreach activities that benefited inner-city students in Dayton through the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
- winning an intramural kickball championship.
“All of these time-based activities have helped me to build my own social capital and are helping me to change the world around me,” said Guzman.
This year, he also received the Margarita Quintana-Tuss and Mark Stewart Maurice, Ph.D., Scholarship. Guzman intends to keep investing time afforded to him through scholarships in his outreach activities, like he will in his role as vice president for outreach and engagement of the UD SHPE chapter — even while taking a heavy course load of 18 credit hours this fall.
Making a difference in the world and getting an education are both important to Guzman, who shared a quote from Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Guzman is thankful for scholarships, which allowed him time to volunteer while he pursues his engineering education. He said he will do all he can to make his scholarship donors say, “this is a life we helped change, to change the world.”