Student Wins Gateway Laptop

 San Antonio, TX--Adriana Perez, a Fall 2005 graduate-to-be in multidisciplinary science from HACU member University of Texas at San Antonio, is the fall semester winner of the UTSA Office of Information Technology Laptop Award. She is the fourth winner of a Gateway computer in the program.  The award is made possible by a partnership agreement between HACU and Gateway, and is awarded every fall and spring semester.

Perez received a commemorative certificate, Gateway laptop computer and MP3 player, software, and backpack and briefcase carrying cases at a December 14 ceremony at the UTSA campus.

When UTSA students, faculty and staff purchase Gateway laptop computers as part of the UTSA Student Laptop Initiative, a portion of the sales are returned to UTSA. Money placed in the fund is used to award a laptop computer each semester to a student who participates in the Academic Development Program (ADP).

Perez was accompanied at the ceremony by her parents and younger brother, Marcelino, also an ADP participant. An older brother, Juan Antonio Jr., had also participated in ADP and is now a UTSA graduate. The siblings anticipate a third UTSA graduate in the family as Marcelino works toward his degree.

ADP is a bridge program between high school and college for students accepted to UTSA on a provisional basis; the program helps those students achieve academic success. A committee led by Cynthia Rodriguez, ADP associate director in UTSA's Tomas Rivera Center for Student Success (TRC), selected ADP students with GPAs of 2.75 and above as award finalists. The GPA requirement is up a quarter of a point from previous semesters because of an increase in qualified candidates. Finalists were asked to submit resumes detailing their academic and work experience and UTSA and community activities.

Perez participated in ADP in the summer of 2000. As a UTSA freshman, she volunteered with church retreats and maintained her studies while connecting with students and staff through jobs at TRC as a science tutor and front-desk assistant. She moved on to assist in the Office of the Vice Provost at the Downtown Campus and then the Undergraduate Advising Center, also at the Downtown Campus.

With plans to become a teacher, Perez has teaching experience from Poe Middle School and recently completed field work at O'Connor and John Jay high schools.

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