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Hometown: Lynn, Mass
Major: Management, concentration in finance and accounting
Notable activities: President, Organization of Latin American Affairs; Assistant Director, AHANA Leadership Council; volunteer tutor; three-time BC intramural soccer champion; studied abroad in Madrid; volunteer, PULSE Program/Work Force Youth Program; Freshman Leadership Program; SANKOFA Leadership Program; Yawkey Scholar; La Vida Scholar.
Post-graduation Plans: Serve as a preceptor this summer in the Office of AHANA Student Program’s Options Through Education Program, then work for PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP as a management consultant.
Overview: Lopez’s family immigrated to the US from El Salvador before he was born. The oldest of five and the first in his family to graduate college, Lopez has fully embraced opportunities for leadership at BC, getting involved in a number of campus activities and taking part in the Arrupe International Immersion Program service trip to Mexico. He also spent this year’s spring break in El Salvador learning about microfinance institutions. As a result, he was chosen to receive the Dr. Donald Brown Award, given for academic achievement and activities within the AHANA community.
How did being the president of the Organization of Latin American Affairs affect your experience here?
It allowed me to meet a lot of great people and join a family at BC. Additionally, it pushed me to be a good role model for the Latino/a community on campus: doing well academically, making sure that I was always on top of my work, grabbing lunch with freshmen, making sure I was a good mentor, and always setting good examples. It kept me focused and allowed me to be a big brother on campus, too, not just at home.
Who has had the most profound influence during your time at Boston College?
Without a doubt, my roommates. They’re the same guys that I’ve been living with since freshman year and a few of whom I will live with after graduation. Our circle of friends is very diverse, from the color of our skin to our ideologies and interests. We come from all kinds of different backgrounds and we’re able to come together because we found common interests. We can debate topics and stand on complete opposite ends, but we can also have a friendly conversation in a respectable manner, and those things I think helped me learn a lot about myself. We were able to share with each other and by doing so, teach each other and learn from each other as well.
How has Boston College made a difference in your life?
I think the biggest thing was learning the Jesuit ideology. Before coming to Boston College I had never even heard of the Jesuits and now, I feel the ideology is a big part of my life. It’s about being conscious of and looking after those who are not as fortunate, living with those who are marginalized in society, and living a simple life. Even studying business in a setting of a Jesuit campus has been a very profound experience.
How do you think your activities influenced your four years at BC?
Coming out of high school, I had this passion to leave my mark on the world in a positive manner, but it consisted of a lot of passion with little direction. Boston College has allowed me to channel and focus specifically that passion to find a way that I can make a difference. When I came to BC, I didn’t even know if I wanted to study business, but meeting professors has enabled me to think differently and creatively to make a difference in the world using business to do good. My activities at BC have definitely taken raw passion and turned it into something really powerful with direction.
Let’s build on that – in what ways do you want to make a difference in the world?
Through my trips this year to El Salvador and Puebla, Mexico, I’ve been able to learn a lot about microfinance and economic development, and to see the fruits of labor from small businesses in these countries where capital is nowhere near where it is in the United States.
I was given the opportunity to come to Boston College through a lot of grants and scholarships and I feel it’s my responsibility to return to Latin America and create some meaningful change with the business skills that I’ve learned. Being fluent in Spanish and English, and having grown up as a Salvadoran American, I bring a different perspective, and hopefully I can think creatively and find solutions that otherwise would not have been thought of.
What professors have influenced you the most?
Definitely Amy LaCombe, who was my Portico professor and one of the first professors I had. She reached out to me over the summer before I started at Boston College. We had a class that was all first-generation college business students during my first year in the Carroll School. She made me feel like a person and an individual by reaching out to me personally. Professor LaCombe recommended me for internships and I think she’s the reason I have such a great job waiting for me at PwC.
Also, Assistant Sociology Professor Gustavo Morello, SJ – he also taught me a lot about Latin America outside of the business context, and that was very important too. I took a class with him called Faith and Conflict where I learned about it in a spiritual way. Seeing the role the Catholic Church played in Latin America and learning about the history of Latin America wasn’t something I had done in an academic setting before. He taught me a lot.
I also believe I have been influenced by Professor Richard McGowan, SJ, who has really forced me to think sharply and differently. Apart from professors, I really owe it to the administrators in the Carroll School, the administrators in the Office of AHANA Student Programs, and Jane McGuire in Student Services, my current boss.
What advice would you give to incoming freshmen?
I would tell freshmen to make and foster authentic relationships. You do that by taking the initiative to talk to people and to always say hello to people on your way to class, even if you met them before and forgot their name. You do that by grabbing coffee and sharing what’s on your mind in those moments. You don’t do that by texting someone to hang out just on the weekends.
What has been a favorite experience during your time at BC?
The Boston Marathon during my sophomore year. I think training and running the marathon, especially the training aspect, was my favorite experience, because I was going through some tough times at home and training gave me an outlet to be calm, relaxed and healthy. The feeling that you get when you cross Mile 21 as a Boston College undergrad is one of the best – probably one of the top three best feelings in my life. Being super tired and seeing my friends, jumping into their arms – they grabbed me, patted me on the back, and made sure I finished the last few miles.
Of what are you most proud?
I’m most proud of my four sisters. They are living with the pressure of following in the footsteps of what my family calls a big overachiever, and I know how tough that can be on younger siblings to have to deal with that, to have to measure up to someone who is very ambitious. But they haven’t let that affect them – they are amazing, supportive, and positive. What I always tell them is, “Do what makes you happy. You don’t have to go out and get a four-year education at a prestigious university. You don’t have to follow my exact footsteps. What I did was set a good example and as long as you’re happy, then that’s what really matters.”
It’s a big deal that I’m getting close to graduation and that I am going to be the first in my family to graduate from college. It’s a huge thing. I have a lot of cousins my age who didn’t get the same opportunities I did, so I’m very grateful for all I’ve received from society, from Boston College, from all the grants and scholarship funds, and every person I’ve met throughout this journey. I want to keep it going.
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