Having been previously unfamiliar with Southwestern University, Hector Ruiz ’10 was eagerly anticipating his inaugural trip to campus on a fall weekend during his senior year of high school. However, the excitement was to visit with a former classmate more than to experience a visit to Texas’ first university.

“I’d just started my senior year of high school, and I’ll admit it now: I set up a tour of Southwestern only because my dear friend, Valerie Sanchez Burks ’09, was there and I really wanted to see her,” Ruiz confessed. “But as soon as I stepped out of the car, I felt this overwhelming sensation of being home. To this day I still can’t describe it, but I knew Southwestern was where I was meant to be.”

While his initial visit may have been rooted more in a good friend than in good faith, it resulted in a good outcome for Ruiz and many who would eventually follow in his footsteps.

Ruiz says he graduated from Southwestern with so much more than a bachelor’s degree in business.

Realizing that being at SU allowed him an opportunity to shed the shy, quiet persona he wore in high school and “live life as his true, authentic self”, Ruiz quickly became involved with the Office of Student Activities through an on-campus job and later found a passion through work with University Programming Council.

“I was able to apply what I was learning in the classroom to real life,” Ruiz revealed. “Southwestern prepared me for what was to come and how to navigate through whatever life may throw at us.”

He credits mentors like Jason Chapman ’03, Ebony Rose ’02 and Lisa De La Cruz ’08 for helping foster an environment at Southwestern that helped change his approach to school, service and society. And because of the supportive, enlightening community, Ruiz was inspired to become a mentor himself – even after graduating and leaving campus to pursue his advanced degree and career.

Engaged with prospective students through The Office of Admission’s Operation Pen and Paper and by attending college fairs on behalf of Southwestern, Ruiz is especially proud of how he’s encouraged families from his home region in the Rio Grande Valley to consider his alma mater.

“Being an example of why it’s worth it to challenge yourself and invest in your education is something I’m happy to represent,” Ruiz shared. “I have pride for the Valley and I love it, but compared to other parts of Texas, it’s under resourced. There’s an expectation that not much can come from there and I try to prove that otherwise.”

Ruiz remains involved with SU’s COMPASS program, an initiative he helped bring to life with dear friends and mentors JoAnn Lucero Waldrop and Grace Josey Pyka ’05. COMPASS stands for Connecting Opportunities through Mentorship, Professional Alumni Support & Shadowing, and connects Southwestern sophomores, juniors, and seniors to alumni and community members.

A past member of the Alumni Council and recipient of the Distinguished Southwestern Service Award from the Alumni Association, he also helped plan his class’s fifth, 10th, and 15th reunion parties and is a member of the LGBTA Alumni Connection Group.

“Southwestern really helped me find my purpose in life,” Ruiz said. “One of the greatest things I learned was to act with intention. I always want people to feel that they’re cared about.”

The very first time he visited campus as a high schooler, Hector Ruiz was there to connect with a current student and unintentionally fell in love with Southwestern. After becoming a student himself and mastering how to act with intentionality, Hector now chooses to apply his purpose to making sure every SU student with whom he interacts feels the same sense of Southwestern community that helped shape him.