14-02-2025
OC student to speak at Achieving the Dream convening
Feb. 13—Odessa High School teacher and Odessa College student Sonny Alaniz is headed to the Achieving the Dream convening in Philadelphia next week.
Achieving the Dream is a national organization committed to advancing community colleges as accessible hubs of learning, credentialing, and economic mobility. ATD recently announced that eight students who attend ATD Network community colleges, including Alaniz, were chosen as 2025 DREAM Scholars.
Alaniz is studying mechanical engineering, physics, mathematics and business administration. He plans to transfer to Texas A&M University to go for degrees in nuclear engineering and astrophysics.
Odessa College chose three students to start the ATD application process, followed by an interview and waiting for feedback on whether they got accepted or not.
The weeklong conference starts Feb. 17 and ends Feb. 21. DREAM Scholars have to be there on Feb. 17, but the conference starts Feb. 18.
Alaniz will be speaking Feb. 20 and he'll close out the speeches for all eight students.
He will talk about future aspirations since he's the last one. There's only one other student who was selected from Texas. The rest are from other parts of the United States or are international.
This is Alaniz's last semester at Odessa College, but it's also his last semester teaching. The Odessa native and Odessa High School graduate will be uprooting his life and moving to College Station.
Alaniz, who teaches robotics and engineering, said he wants to pass knowledge and wisdom on to his students and give them something long lasting.
"I want to make sure that even though I'm gone, at least they could take away from my journey what to do, and even if it's nothing related to STEM, at least they'll have the knowledge to be ambitious, to keep striving ... and keep pushing themselves beyond what they think they can do and to be more than what people tell them they are," Alaniz said.
He said he will miss the college and the familiarity of Odessa.
"It's going to be a new adventure for me, one that I'm excited for," but also nervous, Alaniz said.
"It's just going to be a whole new environment and I've just got to make sure I can adapt," he added.
Alaniz has visited Texas A&M and he's going back one more time on his spring break. He starts in the fall.
He wants to get into research and development as an engineer and eventually work his way into retiring as a university professor.
Director of Learning Framework and Special Projects at Odessa College Reagan Saffle said they are very proud of Alaniz.
She first met Alaniz when he applied for an Education Foundation grant and her first impression was he was all for students and "has a huge heart for education."
Alaniz, 27, also is a Positively OC Scholar. He was president of the student government association and Students in Philanthropy. Once he finished his term, he wanted to strive for more so Positively OC was his next step.
The OC website says, the Positively OC Presidential Scholarship covers two years of tuition and fees at Odessa College, for those awarded.
"Positively OC Scholars serve as student leaders of the college, through their presence online, around campus, and in the classroom. Positively OC Scholarship recipients are afforded unique opportunities during their time at OC, including access to leadership workshops, public speaking opportunities, a community within the program, mentorship opportunities with OC staff, and more," the site says.
Saffle said when he interviewed to be a Positively OC Scholar, she automatically realized he was not only for students but for the community and the campus.
"We're just so appreciative and proud of him for all that he's accomplished and all that he's willing to do," Saffle said.
Whenever she needs something, Alaniz always asks what he can do, when he can do it and what she needs.
"That means so much for us as a campus that he's so willing to give back when we've invested in him, especially for the scholarship," Saffle said. "I do believe that Sonny is the perfect example of a Positively OC Scholar and we're really excited that his accomplishments and his dreams and aspirations will be highlighted at Achieving the Dream."
They have applied to have students be DREAM Scholars before, but this is the first time OC has had one chosen, she added.
"This was a huge accomplishment for our program specifically because we do always try to encourage Positively OC Scholars to apply, but especially as a campus, it's a good way to highlight all the good we're doing here," Saffle said.
"We were selfishly very excited that a Positively OC Scholar got chosen just because that was one of our goals for our program was to highlight the amazing students that are here," she added.
The 2025 DREAM Student Scholars are:
— Sonny Alaniz — Odessa College (Texas)
— Destinee Britto — Tallahassee State College (Florida)
— Heidi Counelis — Gateway to College Program at Mott Community College (Michigan)
— Bradley Gawie — Central University of Technology (Bloemfontein, South Africa)
— Diego Perez Lopez — San Jacinto College (Texas)
— Warren Miller — College of Menominee Nation (Wisconsin)
— Isaac Njoroge — Community College of Baltimore County (Maryland)
— Rashiadah Weaver — Cuyahoga Community College (Ohio)
During DREAM, the scholars will meet with community college leaders and attend sessions focused on improving student success. Their experience includes individual presentations through which they will share what they have learned during the week, while providing additional insight about how their ATD Network institution works to improve student success and completion and to drive social and economic mobility. Additionally, each 2025 DREAM Scholar will receive a scholarship to support their educational or personal journey.
