A new fall semester means a new Spirit of the Roadrunner duo. The Spirit of the Roadrunner program aims to recognize students who embody the “spirit of UTSA” while striving for the highest levels of academic achievement, campus involvement and community service. They demonstrate the Roadrunner Creed in their daily actions and serve as ambassadors to the university at various UTSA-sponsored events throughout the year.
While the accreditation used to be given to one male and one female — known as Mr. and Mrs. UTSA — the program adjusted to match the values of the students; it is now “Spirit of the Roadrunner,” which has no gender determination.
This year, one of the winners was Alessandro Espinosa, a computer science major whose platform initiative appealed to many students.
“‘Better Together’ focuses on connecting UTSA students with the greater San Antonio community. In collaboration with nonprofits, community-based startups and local governing bodies, the university would provide a platform for external organizations to discuss their missions, along with opportunities for students to engage in their operations: either by working/volunteering or attending their events,” as described on UTSA’s website.
While originally planning to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin, Espinosa felt a strong sense of home here at UTSA which ultimately led him to running for Spirit of the Roadrunner.
“Initially, I was going to end up going to UT Austin for computer science,” Espinosa said. “I had gotten a full ride there and gotten accepted into their program called the ‘Impact Scholars.’ I thought for the longest time I was going to end up there. But then I started hearing from a recruiter about UTSA and the direction the school was moving in. I was intrigued. After a while, I was like ‘Yeah, this is where I want to end up. This is where I want to be.’”
Outside of UTSA, Espinosa has a strong appreciation for the city of San Antonio, especially because of his home-grown roots.
“I am born and raised here in San Antonio, so this place is home to me and there is really a special kind of air about this place,” Espinosa said. “For me, this really is the biggest small town in America. I feel like this place has such a deep appreciation for its culture and its roots, and it obviously does a really good job of preserving its historical landmarks. This place really cares about where it comes from along with where it’s going, and to be a part of that, and to help promote the university that’s looking to blaze the trail for where this city can go on an academic and professional level, is very, very meaningful to me.”
As Spirit of the Roadrunner, Espinosa is confident that he will be able to serve his community thoughtfully.
“With the accreditation of Spirit of the Roadrunner, I hope to really connect students to the greater San Antonio community, because as we grow, not only as an on-campus community but a general student body population, we’re going to start to get a lot of people not only from San Antonio but from other places in the U.S.,” Espinosa said. “Given the car-centric nature of how the city is designed, along with just the fact that it’s so big, it can be kind of difficult for students to find their place in it all, and find that community not only on campus but in the greater city area. I feel like the way that student involvement handles the promotion of student organizations and the fact that we have so many on campus, there’s a good amount of outlets for students to find their identity here at UTSA, but I feel like there’s maybe not much that the school has explored in regards to doing that for the San Antonio community.
“So with my platform, called Better Together, I aim to make a keynote speaker series where we have people coming in from local nonprofits, local startups with a community orientation and local governing agencies to kind of come in and talk to students about what they have going on for San Antonio, what are they doing in the community and why they feel what they do is important.”
As he begins his journey as Spirit of the Roadrunner, Espinosa remembers to stay true to the heart of the university while aiming to bring a fresh perspective on community involvement.
“I want to make sure I maintain that Roadrunner spirit and focus on making the vibes good here, making sure to be friendly to everyone I meet and making this an inclusive environment. You know, this is Roadrunner Nation and I really feel like I have my friends here, found a family of sorts and that I have enough opportunities to succeed and make a meaningful impact.”
