From Venezuela to LSU
Daniel Vilchez uses his experiences as a first-gen, minority student to guide LSU science hopefuls along their path to success
Universities are keepers of an array of people with different experiences and perspectives, and a college campus can be a community of shared histories and cultures. But within that sense of unity swathed in purple and gold are the individual journeys that make up Tiger nation.
Daniel Vilchez’s path to the United States and to LSU was one marred by political strain and familial distancing. Like many before him, he and his family came to the U.S. looking for asylum, but in his journey came the tenacity and strength that helped him succeed both at LSU and beyond.
Once a student in the College of Science and now its recruitment coordinator, Vilchez may be the first face many new LSU hopefuls see if they are considering science at LSU.
A first-generation, minority graduate from the College of Science, Vilchez has been able to use his own experiences to help students find their footing and succeed in their chosen fields.
CoS: You have a story to tell. You were a first generation, minority student. Can you tell me a bit about your journey to the U.S. and to LSU?
DV: So, I was born in Venezuela and lived a significant portion of my life there. There was an economic crisis when I was younger. The petroleum company that my mom worked for went on strike and the president fired everyone. It all started to get really dangerous, so we left.
When I moved here, it was a big culture shock. I didn’t know any English. I don’t remember this, but my mom said that I would come home and cry because I didn’t understand anybody. But the way I remember it is that just one day, it all clicked. Once I was in Louisiana, I stopped experiencing my family the way I did in Venezuela. We would see grandparents and cousins, and that was the normal, but at first being here, it was just my mom, sister and me, so it felt very isolating for us.
I felt a pressure as eldest in my household, especially when my parents split up, that I just had to take care of things. I mean, I put this pressure on myself, but I felt that I needed to do something that would provide me enough so that I could give back. I think many immigrant children feel that way—to want to support their parents who sacrificed so much. I was always really attentive in school, so I felt that I needed to choose something in the sciences. I chose to go into engineering because I thought I could get out in four years and then be able to help my family. But that didn’t work out, and I eventually switched to biochemistry. There was a teacher in high school, Ms. Gallatas, who taught my chemistry classes, and she was just a big influence in my life. She showed me that STEM was a path I could take.
CoS: How has your experience as a first-gen, minority student helped you to connect with students?
DV: I think a lot of the things that I say when speaking with students just comes from my own experiences. I feel like I have a good gauge of pretty much all of the things that I have done and those that I have not succeeded in or accomplished, especially being an alumni from LSU.
I can really speak about, like, “These are the things that science majors go through, and these are the things that I utilized as a student that helped me achieve my degree, and this is how you can overcome those things.” With first-gen students or minority students, it hits a little bit more home because it’s coming from someone who has been in the same situation. As a first-gen student, you stumble a bit more just from it being an unknown, and I like to think that I display that really well to prospective students.
CoS: You’re an LSU science alumnus yourself. What was your experience like in the College when you were here as a student?
DV: The college has really amazing people. It’s the most positive work environment that I’ve ever been in—just a solid network of support that’s willing to go above and beyond their own jobs to help the college gain bright new students. And that helps knowing that there’re people around you just willing to do anything for you.
I tell the students I see my own story. That you’ll have the support system that’s going to help you throughout the whole time. I only saw one advisor, Krista Baron, the whole time I was a student because she helped me so much and just guided me the entire way.
CoS: And you didn’t initially seek out becoming a college recruitment coordinator. What did you decide to do after graduating?
DV: So after I graduated from LSU, I went and got my master’s. I went to Georgetown University and finished in a year. I graduated in 2018 in physiology and biophysics. I never thought once that I was going to go to Georgetown University. Not once in my life could you have told me, a first-generation student getting a bachelor’s degree at their state school, that I’d be getting my mastership at this prestigious school. But I applied anyway because LSU and the College of Science gave me that confidence to reach out to things that I might not have thought I could attain.
I was expecting to go to medical school, but life happened. I ended up working for a year at a clinic in Orlando and eventually moved back here because my girlfriend got into the Vet School. I looked at it as just kind of like taking the next step, moving forward rather than backward.
CoS: You’re in the Student Services Office in the College. The SS Office probably does more than people may realize, especially behind the scenes.
DV: It’s true. Student Services is there from the moment that you step onto campus, even at orientation—that’s who you are interacting with. We already know what classes you’re going to take, what the best pathway is for you to succeed. So students come to us with absolutely no idea about what it is they want to do, and our advisors guide them through the whole process.
And then there’s graduation. Once you start getting into your junior and senior year, just making sure that you’re not missing something that will prevent you from graduating…there are people looking at schedules, looking at dates, ensuring that students are succeeding. I always like to say, we can’t wake up students and force them to go to class but we’re constantly pushing.
CoS: You’re kind of like the “main” college ambassador, but you have a program for college ambassadors. What exactly are college ambassadors?
DV: College ambassadors represent each of the five departments in the College of Science (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy). Not only should they be well-versed in their own department, but they also have to be able to speak on every department. They talk to prospective students. They present at our recruitment events. They give tours. They have to answer questions that you can’t exactly rehearse for, so they have to be able to maneuver in moments like that. They work hard, and it’s just an amazing group of students.
Right now, we have three seniors who are about to graduate, so we’re hiring a new batch of ambassadors that we will get to polish and mold into another amazing team. This is a really fulfilling part of my job, especially because all I gravitated towards were mentorship opportunities through my time in college. Being a supervisor to these really high-achieving students is really fulfilling.
CoS: What advice would you give to incoming freshman students?
DV: If you don’t have a desire to get a master’s or anything like that, then you really have to start setting yourself up to succeed or to be able to make a competitive application into your industry as soon as you can. As a freshman, it’s a hard mindset to get into. You can’t just come to school and get good grades. Industries don’t care if you received a 4.0. What they want is that you can show you have had lab experience or internships. Students need to have experiences outside of the classroom that’s going to enhance the education they’re receiving, and they can’t wait until the end of their four years to try to accomplish that.
So I would say, use your four years to get with a career coach, refine your resume every year, apply for things that you might not think you’re competitive for, and go forward knowing that you might only have a year of experience, but you have a set of skills that make you a competitive applicant.
CoS: How do you think the college has helped to create an environment that really encourages students to realize their potential?
DV: I think the College does a good job at presenting a clear image of what it is that we do. That’s not to say that we’re pushing students away, but we try to be clear about our intentions and about the resources and about what a science degree is. We try to make the path transparent, from the moment you arrive on campus to graduation, what it entails. And then making it clear to students that if this isn’t how you align, we will help you find what other place on campus you’re going to align with because at the end of the day, we all work for LSU, and we have to ensure that the students that are coming in, are setting themselves up to succeed.
CoS: Do you think the college recognizes students who may need additional support, whether they are first generation, minority, or other?
DV: Definitely. Whenever you see us at an event, we’re hitting every type of representation, and I think that’s just generally important. If I bring my staff to an event, students are going to find someone who they’re going to relate to, and that’s across all different areas. We have both strong leading women and men who are doing amazing things in their own majors. I work alongside Dr. Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy (assistant dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the College), and we do a lot of events that revolve around first-gen, underrepresented students. It’s important for us to be proactive in talking to students who may not be getting the exposure they should be getting.
CoS: Was there anything else you wanted to add?
DV: Yes, actually. I’d like to say something about Dean Peterson and the Assistant Dean of Student Services Kathryn Loveless. They both work really hard for the students in our College. Whenever I was a student, I never realized just how attentive they were because you’re a student going through classes and worrying about other things. But working in the office, I can see how much they are personally working on that will better things for our students. They listen and remember individual stories, and they are proactive about them. I think a lot of the success that I probably received through my time here in the College was just because of their leadership.