After David Delgado finished his junior year at Wooster High School, he never returned. Family issues, a wrecked car and no motivating force in sight led Delgado to a five-year stint without a diploma or opportunities to advance. Enough was enough. Delgado found his stride at The University of Akron, where his professors challenged him to excel, and he did. Delgado graduated on Aug. 15 with a 3.25 GPA, a bachelor’s degree in sociology and an acceptance letter to graduate school.
David Delgado
“I was a high school dropout working minimum-wage jobs that were very unfulfilling,” says Delgado. “Just getting by at the moment, which entailed working as much as I could to pay my bills, is about as far into the future as I looked.” He explains that his life as a child, raised with six siblings by a single working mother, left little time or financial means for college dreams.
Dead ends became all too familiar. One, in particular, pained Delgado: He was overlooked for a promotion at Wal-Mart, where he worked for several years. Although he gained the experience necessary to work as a department manager, when a position opened, Delgado’s application was denied.
With nudging from his wife, Aryene, and an empathetic co-worker, Delgado earned his GED. He and Aryene applied for and received admission to UA’s Wayne College and together, pursued nursing degrees. While Aryene stayed on course with the program and will enter her senior year in nursing this fall, Delgado’s interests gravitated toward sociology and psychology.
Found the right fit
“The subject matter was really enticing. It felt like a natural fit for how I try to approach everyday life,” says Delgado, who spent a full semester contemplating his decision to declare sociology and psychology as his majors.
Delgado’s thoughtful move led him to a world of engaging subject matter, research opportunities and academic achievement. “For the first time in my life, I excelled academically,” says Delgado, who was named on the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s List for six semesters.
He credits his UA professors for supporting his ambitions as an aspiring scholar. “They were very passionate and extremely knowledgeable. They made themselves available to students who showed the slightest interest,” says Delgado. He points to Dr. Susanne Meehan, professor of psychology at Wayne College, who encouraged him to reach out to his instructors with questions. “She told me that intellectual curiosity is not a sin,” Delgado says.
Dr. Rebecca Erickson, UA professor of sociology, also took Delgado under her wing. She enlisted him to conduct research on the socialization processes and emotional experiences of medical students becoming doctors, an endeavor that spanned a year.
While Erickson assumed a role as Delgado’s academic mentor, Dr. Robert Peralta, associate professor of sociology, provided him insight on life as a social scientist. “He taught me the personal side of the profession. He helped me to open myself up and engage with other students and feel confident about entering my life in academia,” says Delgado, who plans to earn a doctoral degree and become a sociology professor.
Sense of belonging
Elected last year as president of UA’s Sociology Club, Delgado says he learned firsthand how to integrate his personal life with his academic career and helped his peers do the same. “My social life became the club,” says Delgado, who immersed himself in studying, presenting research at symposiums and directing fellow classmates — through the club — on steps to take toward graduate school. “I became a leader and taught others what I was learning at the same time.”
As one of the 1,054 UA undergraduate and graduate students to receive degrees in August, Delgado says he could not have come this far without the professors who recognized his potential and gave him a sense of belonging.
“The many opportunities they had given me and all of the time they had invested in me helped me to grow personally and professionally,” he says. “They didn’t leave anything to chance for me. I owe everything to them.”
Story by Denise Henry
Media contacts: Dan Minnich, 330-972-6476 or dminnich@uakron.edu, or Lisa Craig, 330-972-7429 or lmc91@uakron.edu.