12/03/2017
Meet our BAP member of the week: Arnold Castro!
"Being the first in my family to attend college, let alone a prestigious university, had always seemed to be just a dream of mine. Now, I have transformed that dream into a reality. Post high school, I had furthered my education at Triton College, within their Scholar Program. This provided me with a rather unique opportunity in which my tuition was paid in full and offered many transferable scholarships. During my time at Triton College, I was placed on the Dean’s list every semester, and was able to become a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society shortly after my first semester. Afterwards, I was able to graduate and receive my Associate of Science degree. After being the first in my family to graduate from college, I was empowered to continue my education even further and undeniably made the unforgettable decision to attend UIC.
When I first arrived to UIC, I was eager and excited to learn about the different organizations and resources it had to offer. My very first semester I became a member of the Accounting Club, Beta Alpha Psi, LARES, and even joined the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity. I then joined the council of my fraternity by becoming the new Treasurer. The importance of networking is highly stressed at UIC and it has surely made a positive impact on my life. With my newly adopted networking skills, I was able to land a year-long internship at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois in the Corporate Tax department, in which I was the first ever UIC student to partake in their internship program. Moreover, I recently accepted an internship offer from Ernst and Young (EY) and will start next semester during its busy season. All this was possible thanks to the various resources made available to students of UIC and the networking skills we learn throughout social events and certain classes. Coming to a school like UIC has exceptional benefits and allows students to make everlasting relationships with members from different organizations and professionals that come here to present or recruit.
Apart from interning and attending UIC, I also compete in amateur boxing. I have been competing for over 5 years now and have over 50 amateur boxing fights. Although to many this may seem like a dangerous sport, it is actually quite the opposite. Boxing has made me a better person overall, providing me with many appealing attributes such as patience, humbleness, and determination. I apply these attributes in my everyday life including my internship, school, boxing, and personal life. Through my consistency in boxing, I was able to receive 2 scholarships from the USA Boxing Association that were directly applied to my tuition here at UIC. A great boxing legend and an iconic figure Muhammad Ali once said,” He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” I believe that as students of a unique and diverse university, we will be faced with many challenges as well as being presented with a plethora of opportunities; both in which can be risky, but it is up to us to decide what to choose."
