(July 26, 2017) -- Meet Nick Hernandez ’11. He’s working to create the best experience for students by showing them what it means to be a Roadrunner.
Hernandez was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. Living in an area with few choices for college, he decided to venture out and take a trip to San Antonio to visit UTSA.
“I had a great campus experience during my visit. I fell in love with the campus and the culture of the city. I knew right away that UTSA was the place for me,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez enrolled at UTSA in 2007 and held different jobs while pursuing his degree in communications. He started as a resident assistant at Chisolm Hall then became a leasing assistant at University Oaks. Shortly after that, he began working as a tour guide at the Visitor’s Center, which is now the UTSA Welcome Center.
“After graduation, I was fortunate to get a job as an Admissions Counselor, where I got to travel and recruit Roadrunners from all over Texas. That role helped me get to where I am today – a senior admissions counselor, where I get to oversee the Welcome Center.”
The UTSA Welcome Center is equipped with 12 to 15 tour guides and two additional staff members. The center hosted more than 44,000 students and family members last year at both the Main and Downtown campuses, a number that is expected to grow next year.
Hernandez credits UTSA with giving him the resources and skills he needs to succeed as a UTSA staff member.
“Growing up in a small town, I was always shy and closed off, but that changed when I got to UTSA,” Hernandez recalls. “I got involved on campus and attended events. I got to know a lot of people and truly made the most of my college experience.”
In addition to managing the Main Campus Welcome Center, Hernandez assists in coordinating other signature admissions events on campus, such as UTSA Day and the university’s Spring Break Tours.
“I want to enhance the campus experience for Future Roadrunners. The best part of my job is that we get to show admitted and prospective students our campus and make them feel like no matter what, they are welcomed at UTSA.”
Another big part of Hernandez’s role at the Welcome Center is mentoring UTSA student tour guides, just as he was mentored. He has implemented a ladder system for his tour guides, developed a senior guide structure and always attempts to have an open-door policy.
He regularly asks his tour guides and professional staff for feedback about how to improve the Welcome Center’s experience, and he attributes much of the center’s success to their leadership, passion and energy.
“My journey from student to staff member has definitely made me an even prouder Roadrunner,” he says. “It’s humbling to now see our students learning the same traits and skills I once learned and paving their own path.”
“‘Now and Forever, I am a Roadrunner’ is a phrase that I live by,” Hernandez adds. I truly feel like UTSA is home and this is where I belong.”
Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.
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Aproduction of the Gudalupe Cultural Arts Center, Rio Bravo showcases the vibrant music and dance traditions of the Texas-Mexico border region. Featuring the Guadalupe Dance Company and Mariachi Azteca de América, the performances will be filmed live both nights, courtesy of UTSA's College of Liberal and Fine Arts.
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