SAN ANTONIO – As graduation season continues across San Antonio, one local high school senior is not just celebrating academic success; he is planning a future centered on giving back to his community.
Jesus Lopez is the salutatorian at CAST Med High School. This fall, Lopez will attend the highly competitive School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin.
While he is headed to one of the state’s top programs, he tells us that he plans to move back to San Antonio to help the community there.
“I wanted to come back and go to the same hospital my mom and dad worked at, and how they met,” Lopez said.
Lopez tells us that he always wanted to work in the medical field.
In high school, Lopez applied for and was accepted into the Volcker Biomedical Research Academy at UT Health San Antonio. The internship gave him hands-on experience and insight into different fields in medicine.“
I like research. I would maybe stick my hand a little bit into (it at) UT, but in my heart, I do want to go into nursing,” Lopez said.
His decision became even clearer after watching his father cope with the severe effects of diabetes and a stroke.
“Because of diabetes, he had to get his foot amputated … and that infection again spread to his other foot. So he was wheelchair-bound, and we had to take care of him," Lopez said.
“When I see those instances where I help my father go to the restroom or I help him with the bath, I think back to the other families where there might not be someone there for them to help them.”
In addition to his academic achievements, Lopez has been an active member of the Diabetes Education and Prevention Organized Team, founded by CAST Med students to tackle the root causes of diabetes in their community.
“We want to help younger kids understand what diabetes is and try to help them,” Lopez said.
“Really deep down, I wanted to help my community. Seeing my dad having to go through insulin, going to dialysis every Monday, Wednesday, Friday … I don’t want someone else going through this.“
Lopez said he is grateful for the support of CAST Med’s teachers and staff, and he can’t wait to start school at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall.
And when he’s done with school, he plans to try working back home in San Antonio with the University Health System, the hospital where his parents met.
