ASU Senior Takes Next Step to Business Success

SAN ANGELO, TX- Christian Garcia, an Angelo State University senior, was awarded the 2017 Venture for America (VFA) Fellow by the VFA national entrepreneurship. The internship gives students the opportunity to participate in a five-week training course this summer that will prepare them for the two-year business program they will be part of.

The focus of the program is to have participants work with a startup company, and through this process, develop their own business plan for future business pursuits.

“I’m going to continue down this path with the fellowship and hopefully one day, after gaining experience with the startup, I want to come back to San Angelo and establish a company here,’’ Garcia said.

The motivation for Garcia is to provide jobs for people in San Angelo and help with the economic development for the city.

Being a native of San Angelo, Garcia mentioned his success is really a testament to all the role models he met while going through his academic pursuit. Before starting at ASU, he graduated from Central High school in 2013. He is currently on track to graduate this May with a double major in accounting and finance.

The people who helped him along the way of his success include:

• Joey Gandar, his coach from elementary through middle school  
• Amy Rutherford, academic counselor at Central High School
• Ms. Haley Zabata, with the freshmen college at ASU
• Dr Shirley Eoff, history professor and Honors Director at ASU

Garcia said these are just a few mentors out of the many who have had an impact on his life. He made sure to thank all who have come into his life, and have helped him achieve his goals. This includes the many jobs he held at ASU, serving on the school’s Student Government Association, and working with the ASU Business Program.   

Garcia’s father is also a role model for him given he is a business owner.

As for Dr. Eoff, she acts as a mentor to students in the honors program and helps them pursue their goals before graduating from college. 

“[Garcia] has taken advantages of a wider range of opportunities available within the Honors Program than the average student. He attended our annual Leadership Forum, which opened the door for other opportunities, such as serving as a student member on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce during his freshman and sophomore years and the Galilee Community Development Board last year,’’ Dr Eoff said. “That in turn brought opportunities to engage with civic leaders and develop networking and leadership skills that prepared him for some of his recent successes.’’

Garcia is proof of what can be done when effort is applied to achieving goals. The honors program provides opportunities; however, it doesn’t get done on its own. Students need to pursue the opportunities themselves.

“Every student is different and wants different things out of his or her honors experience,’’ Eoff said. “[Garcia] doesn’t wait for someone else to find opportunities for him; he actively does so himself.’’

Garcia believes everything up to this point has prepared him for the fellowship program. He looks forward to not only benefiting his future, but the future of others as well. 

The program, overall, assists underprivileged communities through the business startup; and Garcia said the program will work with communities in need of economic revitalization, like Detroit and Baltimore. Some objectives are to help with career opportunities by creating jobs in cities where the fellowship program is held. The end goal is to help individuals startup their own businesses to help with the economic development in these cities.

Two of the goals mentioned on the Venture for America website include the following: “To revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship,’’ and “to enable our best and brightest to create new opportunities for themselves and others.’’

Garcia encourages anyone interested in pursuing a business career to take on this great opportunity. It will also provide him and many others with the mentoring network to focus on future business goals later in life.          

Visit http://ventureforamerica.org/ to find out more information.