The Amelia Earhart Fellowship was an incredible privilege. The fellowship is very special for me because of Amelia’s legacy. She was so brave, an incredible role model, and a true pioneer. And being awarded the National Science Foundation fellowship still doesn’t feel real to me. It has been an amazing honor and given me a greater opportunity to focus on research and classes.

Tell us about your work to develop technology to locate and avoid space debris.

Space debris is a growing problem and quickly becoming a critical one. What I’ve done is simulate an object orbiting Earth and take measurements as it moves and spins. These measurements allow us to determine the size and shape of the object as well as identify its path. With this, we can tell if it’s an active object or if it’s debris and whether it poses a threat to other objects. The hope is that these findings will improve the technology used to track objects.

How did you get interested in aerospace engineering?

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an astronaut—and still do. That passion was instilled in me by my dad. He grew up watching the Mercury and Apollo missions and fell in love with space exploration. I, too, love everything about space. I also love math and physics, so aerospace engineering was a great combination.

How do you think space exploration has impacted society?

It has made us more aware of how incredibly special, unique, and fragile humanity and our planet are. I think generations that have grown up with space are less enchanted by it, unfortunately. But I believe people can fall in love with space once again. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to continue to learn and grow in space exploration.

Is it difficult being a woman in the male-dominated engineering field?

Being a woman definitely makes you stand out. One thing I hope I can accomplish during my career is to inspire young women to find interests in the areas of science, math, and engineering.

What’s next for you?

After graduation I hope to join the efforts to further human space exploration by working for NASA or SpaceX and continuing my work on space object identification. Down the road I hope to apply for an astronaut position, and eventually I would like to go back to my native Colombia and develop the space industry.

What is the single coolest thing about space?

There are so many cool things! But I think the coolest is that we know so little about it. It’s the best toy you can give any scientist: a never-ending place for discovery.

The U.S. Army Cadet Command does a national Order of Merit list every year, and there’s a big rubric that goes into the ranking. I recognized early on that your GPA holds the most weight. So I have worked really hard to try to achieve a 4.0.

What does a cadet commander do, exactly?

I plan training for cadets and help prepare them for success as lieutenants in the Army.

Your situation is unusual in that you’ve already served in the Army as an enlisted soldier.

Yes, I’ve been in the Army for 10 years now. I’m currently a staff sergeant. I joined when I was 22 after I’d been in college a few years.

How does Army leadership differ from ROTC leadership?

The focus here is academics, so you can’t really count on people to do things on your authority alone. You have to use a lot of influencing techniques to get people on board with your mission and vision. It’s challenging, but that’s good because it exercises those leadership muscles. I have less power as a cadet than I do as a staff sergeant. But if you can lead people without that knee-jerk authority, that’s real power. People will follow you much farther if they know you genuinely care about and respect them.

Why did you decide to join the Army?

It was when 9/11 happened. Not to be too hard on myself, but I was pretty much useless around that time. I was at a community college, studying theater mostly because my friends were doing it. I was failing classes, and in general I just wasn’t taking anything very seriously. A few days after 9/11, my brother and I agreed that if we liked President Bush’s stance on how to respond, we’d go help. That was pretty much it.

So you went from aimless community college student to a high-ranking, high-achieving officer candidate at UT Arlington.

When I was stationed in Germany, it was the first time I was completely on my own. And I started to excel. It was like a snowball of confidence because I went from thinking, “I never finish, I have no follow-through,” to thinking, “I can be good. I am good.” I kind of got addicted to that feeling of achievement. Now that I’m here, it’s all focus. There are things I want to do that I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m here to learn them.

You’ll graduate this May with a business degree. What’s next?

I plan to retire in the military, but I also want to run my own business. My father was an entrepreneur, and that just makes sense to me. I want to control my own destiny while contributing to the economy and society.

My last movie was American Reunion. I played Bo, who is kind of an antagonist to the main characters. My big break, though, was The Lucky One. I played Victor, who is Zac Efron’s character’s best friend.

What was it like when you found out you got a part in The Lucky One?

I had just gotten back to my room in Arlington Hall after a workout at the MAC. My mom called and told me the news, and I just picked up my roommate and twirled him around the room for, like, a minute. Then I was yelling, running down the halls. I couldn’t believe it.

What sparked your interest in acting?

When I was 8, I was involved in my church youth ministry. The youth director asked me to recite Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech for Black History Month. My mother, being the encouraging woman she is, convinced me I could actually memorize the entire thing rather than read it. And I did. It was interesting because I couldn’t even see the audience, really. I got caught up in the words, in how to enunciate and deliver them well. And when I was done, people ran up to me, crying and emotional. It amazed me that I could provoke such a strong reaction in people.

How remarkable to find your calling at such a young age.

Absolutely. And honestly, I never looked into the future and pictured myself on the big screen. At that age, I could only think of being in local plays or something.

Tell us about your first paid acting job.

It was a G.I. Joe commercial. I was 12, and it’s hard to explain what that felt like. I was even at a loss for words on the set. There are a whole bunch of lights on you, cameras, and people everywhere. I loved it.

Most people in your shoes might have already packed their bags and headed to Hollywood. Why are you still at UT Arlington?

Acting isn’t a guarantee. Something could happen at any moment that would keep me from acting, but nobody can take my education away. With a degree in communication, I could still pursue any number of career opportunities that would allow me to do what I love best—connecting with people.

Where does your belief in the value of a good education come from?

It comes from my mom. I could never bring home less than an A. She was very strict, and like a typical kid, I didn’t like it then. But now I see the purpose in it. She has taught me so much that not only matured me as an actor but as the young man I am today.

What does the future hold?

I see me finishing my degree. That’s first and foremost. Then I see me going to Hollywood, pursuing my career full-throttle. I’m focused on my education right now. But once that’s done and over with, I will be successful in acting. That’s a promise.

I’d like to continue doing research in biomechanics. In engineering we deal with stress and strain with metals, but our bodies feel stresses and strains, too. When I was introduced to this idea, I liked it because it combined engineering and nature. Little by little, we’re trying to understand ourselves. We are a complex machine.

What are some of your research projects?

My summer research project at Cornell (in 2011) was with the biomechanics group. We calculated the forces of cells on other cells. But biomaterials are soft and squishy, not hard like metal. The traditional ways of measuring properties are not very applicable to these materials. I was in charge of fabricating some of the materials. There are tools out there to measure this, but they are not accessible to all the labs around the country. We tried to do what the average biolab could do.

Aren’t you also researching sensors?

Last spring in Dr. (Haiying) Huang’s advanced sensor lab, I worked on a sensor for structural monitoring. We are trying to make a sensor to detect defects from a distance. We want to make it wireless with a photocell that can send a signal on measurements. It’s still in the developmental stages.

Double majoring in aerospace engineering and physics and minoring in mechanical engineering seems like a heavy load.

I thought I wanted to do engineering, then I took physics and really liked it. The first month I struggled, but with Dr. (Barry) Spurlock’s help and his motivation, I became confident that I could do it. I completed the minor and wanted to keep going. In today’s world, I think if you broaden your area and combine different perspectives, it can help solve complex problems.

What’s the secret to succeeding as a first-generation college student?

I’ve been very lucky. Some parents push their kids to get a job after high school or after a bachelor’s degree. My parents are able to see the value in education. Through their support, I am motivated more. They’ve never said “you can’t do that.” I also have a brother at UNT, another at North Lake College in Irving, and one in high school.

What do you want to do with all this?

I always wanted to be a teacher and an astronaut. Those are two of my greatest passions. I know one day I’ll be a professor. I see graduate school and research in my future. How I get there, I don’t know. I like the journey. I also like looking into space and looking at airplanes and asking, “How can we fly?” I’m a very curious person. This is our world, and I think we should explore it.

Last summer we were in field school in Italy. While there, I unearthed a fragment of a ceramic vessel that is more than 2,600 years old and is thought to be the earliest representation of childbirth in Western art.

Did you know you had made a remarkable discovery?

No. We were clearing off a very dark black layer, a big deposit with coal, mud brick, animal bones, and broken pottery. I could tell there was an incision on a piece of pottery, which was about as wide as a thumb. The trench supervisor thought it was significant enough. It went to the lab to be cleaned and looked at by a pottery specialist. This engraved piece is unique because we don’t have anything from the classical or Etruscan art with this kind of image.

You are legally blind. Explain what that means.

I have cone and rod degeneration. I pick up visual signals and light but not enough, and light is painful. I use a cane to walk, and I am fortunate to have a wonderful wife who helps me out.

Is your vision a hindrance in your work?

While I do rely on visual signals, the overall impact on me as a scholar is negligible. While in Italy, we found ways that I could fully participate and not worry about compromising the dig. When excavating with other people, you are helping each other, verifying for each other, and making judgments for each other. Most of my work was done through touch and feel, whether through the texture of the soil or other things. We were taught to feel as well as look at items.

As a kid, did you dig up the backyard looking for dinosaur bones?

I was a paleontologist when I was very young, then I got interested in human history, which is more compelling to me than dinosaurs. But you can’t debate the coolness of Tyrannosaurus rex.

How did you become interested in archaeology?

For a while I wasn’t sure what I wanted, so I bounced between majors in English and history. I was one course away from an English degree when I took a course with Dr. Karl Petruso. My wife, Hannah, was an English major and in the class, too. It felt like a calling, so we both changed majors.

What makes archaeology exciting?

Archaeology is hands-on. You’re getting fragments and putting them together like a puzzle. It’s very exciting to be the first person in several thousands of years to hold something.

What’s next on your academic agenda?

My thesis is in conjunction with a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship. I’m experimenting with the idea of getting an MBA and took an accounting course to get my feet wet. I’ll do that before seeking a Ph.D.

How will you put your degrees to work?

I’m torn between going to work at a museum, administration, research, and getting a doctorate.

It’s seeing where you really want to go and developing a plan on how you want to get there. You always have to have a plan to achieve your vision. I wanted to play pro football, and that’s been achieved; now I’m working on the plan to make sure the rest of my life happens the way I want it to.

What have you been doing since retiring from the NFL?

I started a real estate company back in 2005 called Smith-Cypress Partners. And since 2008 I’ve had my own commercial real estate company called ESmith Legacy. I also started a construction company that handles a lot of civil work. The Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities organization we founded has also played a major role since retiring.

Talk about your new book, Game On.

It’s more than just a book about football; it’s about my life. Sometimes people look at professional athletes and see people who have never struggled. But I try to let them know that we’re no different than anyone else. We’ve had to deal with obstacles along the way.

Why was it important to finish your college degree?

I spend a lot of time speaking to young people, and I think it’s important to stay in school. I felt it was very important for my message that I had my degree in my hand. I was eager to go get it and be the first in my family to graduate with a four-year college degree.

Have you ever thought about getting a master’s degree? How about coming to UT Arlington for that?

Over the last six years, I’ve learned a lot from the people in this city, and I’m learning more every day. Right now I’m learning the most from running my businesses. I don’t have plans to get another degree, but if I did, then sure, I’d consider UT Arlington to make that happen.

What kind of synergies might develop between the Cowboys and UT Arlington?

The proximity to the stadium gives UT Arlington the opportunity to create a strategic partnership with the Cowboys. Students can get internships, work experience, volunteer experience, or just go and gain knowledge. It’s great to marry the two together and create some kind of educational experience.

What’s more difficult—the NFL or the business world?

The business world to me, because I have to deal with the question of “what does he know about real estate and construction and running a business?” Football was a part of my life, but it wasn’t my whole life. I’m having to prove myself more now.

Which championship means more—the Super Bowl or Dancing with the Stars?

I appreciate both of them. Dancing with the Stars allowed people to see and recognize me out of a helmet. Football was where my talents were, and the Super Bowl was the best game ever to play in. But on Dancing with the Stars, I was the underdog, and to come out as the champion felt good after all the work we put in.

Do you still dance?

Yes, I do. In fact, I have a dance lesson today.

I was following the progress of a French rower who was rowing across the Atlantic. I realized that I was swimming faster than he was rowing and thought it was something I could do. I was already swimming so much, and I felt like it was a natural progression.

What motivated you to take on such a task?

My father taught me to swim in the ocean when I was a boy. While I was doing the research for the swim, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and died about a year and a half later. This added purpose to my swim—to raise awareness for cancer.

How did you prepare for the 3,716-mile swim?

It was five hours per day of training. Once I could swim five hours, I knew I could add another three. It’s just a matter of keeping your pace, being consistent. After that, it’s mental preparation. You can never imagine the difficulties of the stress that comes from being isolated, swimming in a hostile environment, with only basic necessities on the support boat and little sleep.

What did you think about while swimming?

You want to do anything but focus—you disassociate. I made my own movies in my head. At the time I had never been to New York, so I tried to imagine what that would be like in great detail: what the streets would look like, the people, what they would be wearing, what they were doing, the smell, where I was going. The goal is to get your mind somewhere else so you fall into almost a meditative state.

Were you worried about sharks?

We had an electrode on our boat that creates a magnetic field to keep sharks away. At one point I was outside the field and the shark circled me. He followed us for about five days.

What were the high points?

Waking up to the sound of dolphins clicking and whistling. I dashed to get into the water with them, but they swam away before I got there. Another time I was in the water and a pod of dolphins was following me. If I moved closer to them, they moved to maintain the same distance. They paced me for quite a while.

How did you stay motivated?

Many days I was exhausted, wondering, “What exactly am I doing? Why am I doing it?” But every day that I got back on the boat I could read emails from cancer patients who gave me insight into their treatments and said I gave them motivation to keep going. And I thought, “I can stop any time, but they can’t.” That was a big thing that kept me going.

What’s next?

Swimming the Pacific in spring 2012. It’s the same training, but the logistics are different. It’s going to be a longer swim, and I’ll have a more stable boat and better communication. I’m developing a website, thelongestswim.com, and you’ll be able to follow the swim with videos and pictures.

What’s your advice for anyone toying with the idea of swimming across an ocean?

Don’t look at what you are trying to accomplish because that can be overwhelming. Break it into smaller parts; come up with a daily plan. Focus only on that part of the plan each day. Before long, you’ll be on the other side of it—task completed.

I wanted to make a difference and be able to connect with students. I remember coming to freshman orientation. The Student Congress president wore a suit, and I didn’t want to go up and talk to him. So during orientation this year, I wore a Polo shirt and khakis, and I talked to a lot of students. I think it made me more approachable.

What’s it like to swing the gavel during meetings?

Every time I use the gavel, it reminds me of the promises I’ve made to the more than 33,000 students to represent them in every way I can. When I was sworn in, I actually forgot to use the gavel to adjourn the meeting until the parliamentarian reminded me. The whole experience was exciting, and I guess it got the best of me.

What’s the story on the broken board in your office?

It’s from a leadership retreat. I had to write my biggest fear on it, and what was holding me back was the fear of failure. I broke that with my hand. Every time I look at that board, I keep going and push forward.

What do you like best about being in the Goolsby Leadership Academy?

Getting to meet chief executives is one of my favorite things. You learn that nobody’s perfect. We’ve met executives who were part of a big company and it crumbled. You have your moral compass, and you continue forward and do what’s right.

What are your plans after you graduate in December?

I want to get some field experience in management. Later on, I want to go back to school to learn culinary skills and then manage my own hotel and restaurant.

Do you cook?

I’ve always had a passion for cooking. My mom taught us to cook and sent us to classes. When I was in middle school or high school, everybody wanted me to bake for them because I bake from scratch. Give me a recipe, and I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll try it again and see what went wrong.

You faced a big hurdle just a few years ago.

I had heart surgery in high school. It was a rough time. I had extra nerves in my heart. Everyone has them when they’re born, but mine didn’t die off like everyone else’s. My beats would go up to 200, 300 per minute and cause me to faint. I had surgery in El Paso and later in Houston. They froze the extra nerves to make them die off. I’m fine now and meet with a cardiologist regularly.

Does it keep you from doing anything you want to do?

I loved roller coasters growing up. After I had my surgery, it took me a while to think I could do it again. This past summer my parents, my sister, and brother came to visit me, and we went to Six Flags. With my siblings, I was able to do it. Peer pressure.

I was in the Agency Liaison Department of the Office of Presidential Correspondence. The office receives about 65,000 letters a week and something like 100,000 e-mails a day. Some are requests for congratulatory messages to Eagle Scouts or newlyweds, but others are more serious. My department specifically dealt with letters that could be characterized as “cries for help.”

What are those?

They’re letters from citizens facing different crises, such as foreclosure, IRS garnishment, or delayed veterans’ benefits. One letter I handled was from an elderly man who had a Social Security problem. When it was straightened out, he ended up receiving a sum of about $50,000 for back payments.

Sounds like a rewarding job.

The internship overall was just a great learning experience. I’m much more aware of what’s going on outside my own world now.

Did you get to meet the president?

Yes, and I was able to hear from Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and first lady Michelle Obama during an intern speakers series. Mrs. Obama was my favorite; she is so genuine.

What was the most challenging part about the internship?

Being away from my husband and son was very difficult. But the biggest challenge came not from the work itself, but from the logistics. For me to get academic credit for the internship, a licensed social worker had to supervise my work. Originally, I made an arrangement with someone from the Office of Presidential Correspondence, but she ended up resigning because of medical and family issues. For a while I really thought I would have to come home.

How were you able to stay?

Thankfully, Ellen Murphy, the UTA School of Social Work’s director of field instruction, was able to get in touch with a professor from Howard University, which is located nearby. She agreed to take over my supervision and even let me participate in workshops at Howard.

Was it smooth sailing after that?

Not quite. I had quit a full-time job to take the internship, but everything in Washington, D.C., is more expensive than I realized. My family’s budget was really strained, and again I faced the possibility of having to return home. But I wrote to President Spaniolo explaining the situation, and he awarded me a Presidential Scholarship. That allowed me to finish my internship.

So you wrote your own “cry for help” to the president?

Seems appropriate, doesn’t it?