FULLERTON, Calif. - Coming off the 2020 spring semester, Titans Athletics had the best academic semester ever with a cumulative GPA of 3.32. Student-Athletes who are flourishing away from their field of play will continued to be honored through Student Spotlight. Our second honoree is men's cross country and track and field athlete, Erick Juarez.
A native of Riverside, Juarez joined the Titans program in the fall of 2015 from Norte Vista High School. He earned his degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.18 in the spring of 2020 and was accepted into the CSUF graduate school for computer science. He was named to the Dean's List in his senior year of undergrad with a 3.8 GPA. He was also named to the Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll for four years.
He started his master's program this fall, and hopes to become a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) after graduation. He aspires to work in cyber security.
Juarez is also in MAES, a club for STEM majors that are of Latinx descent (not exclusively Latinx). "In the club we do things like help get young students (middle school and high school) interested in STEM," Juarez said. "We also mentor college freshmen and sophomores who want to get into STEM since we know it's a scary path to go down. We also participate in competitions like building robots and building pumpkin launchers with other clubs on campus."
"I'm also joining the Offensive Security Society, a club on campus that takes an adversarial approach to protecting computer systems, networks, and individuals from attacks. In simple terms, I'm about to start my hacking career," Juarez said tongue-in-cheek.
The honorees are chosen by the Athletics Academics Services staff. For example, a student-athlete that is also tutor or a member of a leadership committee would be things that could could help an athlete garner the recognition. Titans student-athletes remain busy with their sport responsibilities but still find ways to thrive in the classroom as well as impact the community.
PREVIOUS STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
Carolyn Gill - September 16