Happy Monday! Let's start off the week right with a SOTM post. Congratulations to one of the Publications Divisions Students of the Month for April... Matthew Jimenez from Miami Dade College! He was nominated by his advisor, Emily Sendin.
Here is what Emily shared with us about Matthew: "Matthew Jiménez has dedicated much of his time and efforts to Urbana ever since he became involved with the magazine in 2020. Matt contributes mostly as an English and Spanish writer and editor, as well as a layout designer. He has also submitted some artwork and written works to be published in Urbana. The accomplishment Matt is most proud of is having co-organized a student-led protest in favor of the youth-led Cuban San Isidro Movement, which he also wrote about for the Urbana blog. He has always worked hard for Urbana and has been available to help others, whether it is by providing a voice-over for a podcast audio play, trying to get his friend to join the club, or helping someone edit a piece. He has also taken the lead to write our humanitarian campaign in favor of Venezuelan students to gain legal status in the United States.
On campus, Matt shows leadership for our campus honors society, Phi Theta Kappa. He also takes an active role in his community by staying civically engaged. He co-organized a student-led protest -- Universitarios x San Isidro -- demanding freedom of speech in Cuba, garnered over 87,000 signatures on his online petition to then-Miami-Dade County mayor, and won the Civic Action Award for creating a website encouraging others to become more civically active. Regarding family, he worked two jobs to save up for tuition while helping care for his bedridden grandmother. Matt is a student who has been shown an unwavering commitment to Urbana and his contributions have always made us better."
Congratulations to this spectacular student and our thanks to Ms. Sendin for nominating him!