Vincent Perez: Fully Involved
October 26, 2011
A senior communication major from New Braunfels, Perez has consistently participated in numerous ASU activities, organizations and mentoring programs, which culminated in his election as vice president of the Student Government Association (SGA) in the spring of 2011.
“I’ve always been very involved on campus,” Perez said. “When I first came to ASU, it was because I wanted to be in the ROTC program and had a Carr ROTC Scholarship. After I realized ROTC wasn’t right for me, I found other things to fulfill the need to keep my feet wet in campus activities.”
His ASU résumé includes a stint as president of the Association of Mexican American Students (AMAS), of which he is still a member, helping oversee the Student Organization Leadership Fund and membership on the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) Student Organization Advisory Council. He also volunteered to fill a vacant seat on the Student Senate. Then, when current SGA President Hector Romo ran for election, he tabbed Perez as his running mate.
“Obviously, I’m here for the academics, but my passion really lies in the leadership aspects of college.”
“He was looking for someone to run for vice president who was involved and knew their way around campus,” Perez said. “I thought about it, and felt it was something I would like to do, so that kind of influenced me to pursue the vice presidency.”
“Obviously, I’m here for the academics,” he added, “but my passion really lies in the leadership aspects of college. The vice presidency was not only a way for me to do that, but a way for me to actually do something about things that I didn’t agree with and to spread the word to other students about how we can fix them.”
Getting involved in campus activities also helped Perez with his academics. He had drifted for awhile after leaving the ROTC program, first switching his major to marketing and then to communication.
“Somewhere in there,” he said, “I lost track of my academics and things were ‘iffy’ for me. Once I joined AMAS and decided to run for president, I worked to get my grades up because I had to lead by example. I saw all of these people coming in from high school, and now they are sophomores in college. The people I led at one time are now leading other people. I like to see that.”
Perez also takes pride in his work with the ASU Multicultural Center’s RAMS (Raising and Meeting Standards) mentoring program for first-generation students.
“Most of their parents didn’t go to college,” he said. “I was there to make that first bridge for them if they needed it. They were all great mentees, and it is a great program.”
Scheduled to graduate in May of 2012, Perez plans a career higher education so he can continue to guide students through their college experiences.
“I want to be a coordinator, program specialist or something like that,” he said. “Eventually, I want to end up in administration, but you have to start off working in student organizations or Greek life.”
Perez has already laid the foundation for his and others’ futures by going all in to help his fellow students and working to make ASU a better place.