Outstanding business students take aim for next steps
As a first-generation college student, Dave Garcia has always made it a mission to stay focused, and to remember what drives him to get a degree from the University of Houston-Victoria.
On May 11, he will be the first person in his family to graduate with a college degree and aspires to work alongside his father who has remained a steadfast supporter all throughout his life.
Garcia of Louise was named the Spring 2024 Outstanding Business Undergraduate student for the UHV College of Business. He will graduate on May 11 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Alongside Garcia, Alexandra Frenkel was named the Outstanding Graduate Student and will graduate with a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in management.
Each semester, faculty from UHV’s four colleges select outstanding graduates to be honored during commencement. The university will hold four commencement ceremonies on May 11 at Faith Family Church in Victoria. The College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and the College of Natural & Applied Science ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. The College of Business and College of Education & Health Professions ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. A live stream will begin a few minutes before the start of each ceremony and can be watched on the commencement home page at: https://www.uhv.edu/commencement/
“Dave and Alexandra are reflective of the dedication and perseverance of our students,” said Rhiannon Smith, assistant dean of administration and student services for the business college. “We could not be prouder of what they have accomplished in their studies at UHV.”
Right after graduating from high school, Garcia said his academic journey initially took a turn towards Wharton County Junior College to stay close to his family, where he eventually earned his associate degree. Being a first-generation college student, Garcia said he always strived to become more, and after giving it some thought, he enrolled at UHV in 2022.
“My dad owns a truck company, and the plan is to work for him someday,” Garcia said. “Even as a kid I would say, ‘I want to make Dave Garcia Trucking as big as J.B. Hunt, the biggest trucking company in the world’.”
Growing up, Garcia said he and his dad always maintained a close connection with Garcia assisting his father as a budding mechanic. To see his father start a business from the ground up inspired him and instilled in him an entrepreneurial mindset from the start, he said.
“Even though I would love to expand it, I want to keep its original values of helping people,” Garcia said. “Also, I want to keep working with smaller companies, the community and make sure it stays the same course it did when my father first started it.”
When he made the decision to attend a four-year university, Garcia said his top supporters were his mother, father and sister who pushed him to stay on track as well as gave him the emotional support he needed to excel.
“I’m just a regular guy, not a genius by any means,” Garcia said, of him being named an outstanding student. “But I applied myself, I thought of everyone who had my back and pushed out of my comfort zone to be the best version of myself.”
Alexandra Frenkel of Sugar Land will be graduating this spring with a Master of Business Administration with a focus in management. Before undertaking her graduate degree, she earned her Bachelor of Science in psychology from UHV.
Originally from Moscow, Frenkel immigrated over to the United States at a young age. After she graduated from high school, Frenkel said she took a brief break from academics while working various receptionist jobs, along with dabbling in customer service, accounting and data management positions. After a while, Frenkel said she realized that continuing her education was going to be crucial for her career. While making her decision to choose a campus to call her second home, UHV met all of the criteria because of its proximity, Frenkel said.
“After I got my psychology degree from UHV, I honestly enjoyed the ride so much that I decided to pursue my MBA,” Frenkel said. “Psychology was more of something I did for myself because I love the subject, and my MBA was so I could open myself up to more career advancement opportunities.”
After she graduates this May, Frenkel said she aspires to grow her management career and step into a project management role. Eventually, Frenkel said she would like to go into program management and direct data.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my years here at UHV; I have learned so much from all of my courses,” Frenkel said. “There have been numerous situations where I have applied what I’ve learned in my degree program in the real world. UHV has boosted my skills as an entrepreneur and as a person. It has been a great experience for me.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.