I am Marco Andrés Avila Discua, who was born in Siguatepeque and attended El Alba from pre-school until high school graduation in 2023. Through these years, I had wonderful teachers and friends who helped me prepare for my future. There, I learned many valuable lessons, including, morals, virtues and values that helped me mold character as well as give me academic skills. I learned responsibility, kindliness, comprehension of others’ needs and concerns and how to control myself and avoid negative influences that could bring troubles in the future.
Many humorous memories of things my friends had done during classes became lasting jokes until our final days and beyond. As embarrassing as these experiences often were at the time, they made great stories later in life.
Mr. Bruce Von Eck, my Social Studies and Character Education teacher, encouraged me to think through all points of view, which I had not considered previously, and to take in any factors that might affect something or someone else, thus allowing me to evaluate all factors surrounding an issue and mentally prepare for whatever challenges may occur.
Following graduation from El Alba, I was accepted at the Universidad Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, and am currently studying Nano Technology Engineering. This area caught my interest when my brother, who is studying Chemical Engineering at the same university, would talk to me about nano engineering as a very promising career possibility. This prompted me to investigate this field and to encounter someone who had prepared for this career and who explained it to me in great detail. Working with periodic table elements at a nanoscopic level, with the aim of using these properties in industry, fascinated me. My investigations, plus what I had heard about this specialization convinced me that this is what I would pursue, a decision for which I have no regrets and I look forward to a career that I am enjoying more and more every day.
Entering this university was a major goal but so too was my character development. Leaving Siguatepeque and going abroad, without my parents, should have been difficult, as I have always been very close to them, but I find I am able to live on my own and exercise maturity and independence.
My future plans include, first, completing my university studies. Later, I hope to continue for a Master’s degree and a PhD in my field, and perhaps move to the United States, where the Nano Technology industry is growing exponentially. After that, I would like to pursue a second engineering degree in a chemistry-related profession.
Lastly, I wish to thank some of the other teachers at El Alba, including Ms. Ashley Ashcraft, for pushing us students to properly credit all our research sources, as I find that here at university in my research I am required to credit all these sources. Mr. Agustin Benavides and Mr. Antonio Ramos are excellent and enjoyable math teachers. Mr. Gerson Velasquez emphasized development of values and virtues. Ms. Cendy Bonilla, though giving classes unrelated to my area of concentration, helped me develop responsibility.
I hope that current students recognize the importance of what they are being taught, to stop viewing school as a requirement or as boring, and begin to think more about their futures. My advice to current El Alba students is that they must think about their future life after graduation, and what will make them proud in ten years; to stop missing opportunities and grab them because they will help them step up their game.