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Podcast: S8 Ep. 21
Date: July 30, 2025
Title: LU Moment: Sergio Mendez' prescription for success | S8 Ep. 21
Host: John Rollins

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JOHN ROLLINS:  Welcome to the LU Moment, where we showcase all the great things happening with Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty, staff, students and alumni. I'm John Rollins, associate director of community relations and public affairs here at LU, and I want to welcome you all to this week's show. Today, we're sitting down with the Â鶹ÊÓƵ biology, pre-medicine senior, to hear more about his journey here at LU. It's my pleasure to welcome Sergio Mendez to the show today. Sergio, thanks for joining me today on the LU Moment.

SERGIO MENDEZ: Happy to be here.

JOHN: So, let me start by asking you this, where did this desire to study in the medical field kind of come from? Was there a moment in your younger years, where you were like “I think that's what I want to pursue.”

SERGIO: Well, it happened on various occasions. I mean, for starters, I just knew I didn't want to do something more math-related, because math was never really my strong suit. And science, to me, has always been just a huge passion of mine. I always loved learning it. I was never tired of studying it. But I think it was really sealed in with one of the works that I do. I'm a children's party entertainer for Jack and Jill Storybook Co., and what happened is, I went to this one event for, like, Circle of Life—Circle of Hope, I believe. Actually, yeah, a local nonprofit and there was this one kid there at the party, and I think he was just a huge inspiration to me. It really just sealed it in that medicine, especially primary care, was the direction I wanted to go with my journey.

JOHN: I love that a child was your inspiration. It's normally the other way around.  So yeah, speaking of the Jack and Jill Company, and I know you also work here on the Lamar campus, let’s go ahead and segue into you introducing yourself. You can talk about where you currently work, things you’re involved with, and whatever you’d like to share with the listeners.


SERGIO: So, I'm very heavily involved on campus, but workwise specifically, I am, as I mentioned before, a children's party entertainer for Jack and Jill Storybook Co. It's a local company we have here in Southeast Texas, and basically, you can get princesses and your favorite characters to go to your party. So that's really cool. On campus, I work in the Chemistry Department actually, as a student assistant. So, I'm basically our secretary's right-hand man, if that makes sense, and I work there. Also, sometimes I go into the labs to make sure, you know, nothing bad happens with the students. So that’s also really cool. On campus, I’m a Lamar Ambassador. I’m a Reaud Honors College peer mentor. I’m also a commissioned disciple at the Catholic Student Center, so that’s something new, that’s a new hat I’m wearing this semester, so I’m excited for that. Yeah, and then not organization-wise, but I’m also a McNair Scholar, so I’m doing research right now, and I’m going to present that in the fall. And I’m also a Joint Admission Medical Program scholar, so that’s also really cool. And if you haven’t heard of it, please look into it.

JOHN: Yeah, so we’ll touch on that a little bit later and go a little more in-depth because I know you wanted to chat about that. But let’s hear a little bit more about these research efforts you mentioned. Didn’t you get first place in some type of research award? Let’s share about that, because I think it’s really unique. You know, if you speak to our president, President Taylor, he mentions “research with relevance” quite a bit, and I think one of the neat things about Lamar is that students are actually involved in that research. So yeah, let’s hear about it.

SERGIO: Yeah, so research has always been a big passion of mine. I’m the former president of the Lamar Undergraduate Research Association, so research has always fueled me, and I hope it continues to inspire others to pursue it as well. And yeah, I did win first place. It was a local competition here at Lamar, in the chemistry department, we had a chemistry poster competition. My team, which included Jordan Nelson, Estrella Balderas, and Manib Akhtar—I may be pronouncing his name wrong—won first place in the undergraduate category. The research was about fluorescence and chemo sensors, and we worked with our incredible professor, Dr. Zhifo Guo, here in the chemistry department. So that was really cool. Yeah, I mean, we were sophomores when that happened, so it just goes to show that if you go to Lamar, you can actually get involved in research really early on. And because of that, I actually have two research publications out which is just incredible.

JOHN: Wow.

SERGIO: Yeah, it was truly a huge privilege to work with Dr. Guo.

JOHN: And as a sophomore, and you said that led to two publications?

SERGIO: Yes, that happened, I think last year we finalized those, or like this past semester, we got them out there, so that was really cool.

JOHN: Yeah, like you said, it just speaks to the impact Lamar is having at the freshman and sophomore level. You know, whether you’re a freshman or sophomore, you’ve got a great opportunity here to get involved and participate in some of these projects that are honestly helping the world.

SERGIO: I mean, I think we've also made a lot of progress in research here because of everything we’ve done. There’s just so much going on, and I’m a huge advocate for it. If you don’t know what research is or if you’re nervous about it, I strongly recommend reaching out and asking your friends. Research is so important for students because it lets you learn things outside of the classroom. I really encourage everyone to pursue it if they can.

JOHN: So, do you want to touch a little more on your role as the student assistant in the Chemistry Department? You know, on top of being an ambassador, a peer mentor, and part of the Helping Hands Club, I believe it’s called. How do you juggle all of that? As a student, I know it must be a lot.

SERGIO: Yeah, it can be a lot. Balance hasn’t always been the easiest thing for me, especially going into the medical route, you have to learn how to balance things. Sometimes you have to give some, but I always give 100% to everything I do. Still, you have to learn prioritization and make sure you’re doing everything you can without, you know, harming yourself in the process. But yeah, in the chemistry department, as a student assistant, I basically have a secretary role. I check in packages and deliver them to the professors. I also do inventory. And whenever I go into the labs, I act as a student assistant to make sure everyone is following the correct protocols, understands what they’re supposed to be accomplishing, and is adhering to safety precautions. Because you definitely don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially in the chemistry lab with so many chemicals around.

JOHN: Yeah, you’re working with some pretty interesting substances, right? So safety definitely has to be the top priority. It’s awesome that you’re there to help out. Something that a lot of people might not know about you is that you were the recipient of the Southeast Texas Legend Scholarship. Could you explain what that is to listeners who might not be familiar with it?

SERGIO: Yeah, if you’re a high school junior or senior, I strongly recommend you look into this one as well. So, basically, I’m a first-generation college student, and I didn’t really understand how much college costs in terms of financial aspects. I applied to a lot of scholarships here at Lamar because I knew Lamar was one of the places I really wanted to go. The Southeast Texas Legends Scholarship, which is offered by the Beaumont Foundation of America, provides a full ride to Lamar. That was just an incredible opportunity, and I knew I had to at least try to earn it. Financially, I maybe wouldn’t have been able to be where I am today or accomplish everything I’ve done without it. They’ve been a huge blessing in my life, continuing to encourage me and always reaching out to make sure I have everything I need. So yeah, if you’re a high school junior or senior, apply to them! Lamar offers so many scholarship opportunities—Presidential, Smith-Hutson, Southeast Texas Legends—and that’s exactly how you do it. You apply, interview for one, and then they can transfer you over to the Southeast Texas Legends or Smith-Hutson scholarships. There are so many opportunities, and it’s been such a huge blessing. You get to go to college, accomplish all your goals, and not really worry about the financial burden that usually comes with college costs. One hundred percent, yeah. Whenever I go back to my high school—because of the Reaud Honors College, there’s a program called Home for the Holidays— and I go back —

JOHN: I love that program. It’s so good.

SERGIO: It’s one of the greatest programs, I think, that can actually help students who might be in the same footsteps I was in. I get to help encourage them to keep applying for scholarships and tell them about these full-ride opportunities—because these are opportunities you don’t want to let pass by. You don’t want to have that “what if”— “what if I had applied?”

JOHN: To help them understand that a college education is not outside the realm of possibility. It’s very much within reach, you know?


SERGIO: And I think I’m living proof of that. I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to go to college, to just walk on a campus. And you know, these opportunities are here for you. So please, look into them. Make the time to write those scholarship essays and really work on them, because your dreams are so close and within reach. All you have to do is dedicate a little bit of time. It’s totally worth it.

JOHN: You mentioned you’re a first-generation student, we love our first-gen students. What advice would you give to current LU students or incoming freshmen who might also be first-gen, about what to expect at Lamar or just college life in general?

SERGIO: For starters, college is different. I learned that the hard way. What I would strongly advocate for, and something that’s really close to my heart now, is to never be afraid to ask for help. Always be willing to reach out to others, because it’s so easy to isolate yourself when you come to college. I mean, everyone is on their own path, and you just assume that everyone knows what’s going on, but that’s far from the truth. We’re all in the same boat. Everyone is struggling in their own way. But what’s really important about the struggle is learning when enough is enough, and knowing when to reach out for help. At Lamar—and in many places, really—but especially at Lamar, we have so many opportunities for support. Whether it’s the tutoring center, academic coaching, or, like I mentioned before, I’m a peer mentor, so if you want to create a mentorship connection, we’re here for you. If it weren’t for all of those opportunities Lamar provided, I probably would have isolated myself and kept struggling with problems that had solutions. Sometimes all it takes is learning a new study strategy or even just hearing someone say, “I’m in the same boat as you, and I’m here for you.” So that’s what I would say: reach out. Don’t be afraid. If you think someone’s going to judge you or look at you in a bad light, that’s not going to happen. It actually shows more strength to ask for help than to try to do it all on your own.

JOHN: Struggling in silence, right? Exactly. And I think you bring up a really great point. I don’t know if you’ve kept up with the renovations to the library, but a lot of the services you mentioned, like tutoring and retention services, the Writing Center, the mentorship programs, they’re all going to be under one roof soon. The idea is to make the library this central hub for student support. We’ve also got the Student Health Center, which addresses mental health needs through options like TimelyCare, where students can talk to a therapist virtually if they need to. So just like you said, Lamar really is creating all these access points for help, you just have to be willing to see that everyone’s navigating the same journey. Whether it takes four, six, or eight years, however long, no one’s doing this alone. And I really appreciate you sharing that. It’s true, you struggle on your own for a while, but eventually you realize the importance of speaking up and advocating, not just for yourself, but for others too. Making sure they don’t fall into the same pitfalls you did. That’s how the cycle starts to shift.

SERGIO: I appreciate that. Yeah, sometimes you struggle on your own, but eventually, you have to start advocating for others to make sure they don’t fall into the same pitfalls you did.

JOHN: So to end things off, here's a question for you. You know, you're a senior now, so since you've been on campus for a few years now, do you have a favorite memory of your time at Â鶹ÊÓƵ?

SERGIO: There are so many memories. I mean, I could start with when I was accepted into the Joint Admission Medical Program—that was a great memory I had while I was on campus. Specifically, let me think—well, as I mentioned before, I’m a Lamar Ambassador. We do a lot of events with alumni as well as with the President, which have all been incredible. Shoutout to our coordinators, Miss Evie and Miss Shannon—I love them so much. One event we had was called the Golden Circle Luncheon. I can drive a golf cart because I was trained for it since I work on campus. So, one day, we were driving alumni from the parking lot to the Setzer Student Center. It was pouring rain, and I only had one umbrella, so I gave it to them to stay dry while I drove the golf cart in the rain. By the time I finished, I got off the golf cart and realized my jeans were a completely different color—they were soaked through. I was drenched. I walked into the center for the event, and my shoes were making that squishing noise everyone knows. My jeans were literally dripping water as I walked. Someone immediately asked, “Can I get you a towel? What can we do for you?” And that was about all I could accept. I just walked into the event soaked. There are a few pictures from that day where you can clearly see my jeans dripping water, and when people see them, they smile and my jeans are all wet. It’s just one of those memorable moments that stuck with me.

JOHN: You’re like, “He had quite a day.” Well said, it’s a memory you’ll never forget.

SERGIO: Right? 100%. Yes. Join the ambassadors—you get moments like that.

JOHN: Exactly, making memories at Lamar. Are there any ways for folks to keep up with the things you’re involved with? Do you want to plug anything really quick before we wrap up the episode?

SERGIO: I mean, you can follow the Instagrams of the Reaud Honors College as well as the Ambassadors. You can find them on both Facebook and Instagram. I also have a LinkedIn where I sometimes post. Yeah, I’m basically everywhere at once. If you see me on campus, feel free to stop me and ask any questions. I love helping others. So yeah, if you have any questions at all, feel free to find me on LinkedIn or online. Someone can give you my email or any contact info because I’m here to be a resource for y’all if you need anything.

JOHN: Fantastic! There you go. Y’all look up Sergio and give him a shout. Thanks again for joining me on the podcast and for everything you do for our students and our campus. And congratulations on your upcoming graduation you’re a senior, so it’s coming up soon, right?

SERGIO: Yes, it is. Very excited.

JOHN: Fantastic! Can’t wait for that for you. Best wishes for the next semester and everything to come.

SERGIO: Thank you so much, and thank you for having me.

JOHN: That’s a wrap on another episode. Please search LU Moment wherever you get your podcasts to keep up with the events, activities, programs, and people right here at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. This is John Rollins, your host. Thank you for listening, and we’ll talk to you next time.