Rico Torres

During his tenure at GGC, Rico Torres was a familiar face to Georgia Gwinnett College students participating in virtually any of the student-run campus organizations. Torres was a driving influence in the early goings-on of a number of GGC clubs, including the Organization of Latin American Students and the GGC Business Students Association. Even if he was not directly involved with a particular student group, he would  stop by every now and then to show his support and offer his assistance.  For Torres, these student-centered efforts are a key part of GGC’s unique experience.

"Being a charter student meant laying the groundwork for clubs and organizations, building the college and giving them something to take and run with in the future," Torres says.

Of course, being part of the new college's first-ever graduating class was also pretty special to the senior from Grayson.

"It's incredibly exciting to know that my peers and I as a small, close group, finished after two years that just flew by,” he says.  “It was an experience that's never going to happen again."

Torres says he built up momentum in his educational endeavors with a GGC degree coming on the heels of his business-focused associate's degree in science from Georgia Perimeter College.  Plus, school and work overlapped in a positive way.

"It was always easy to bring something we'd learned at GGC into work," Torres says.  "It could be the smallest details that help you complete a task.  Particularly, I could relate to the analytical skills we gained from being in the business school.

"And it was easy to bring my job into the classroom, too," he adds.  "Whether it was something good or bad, I could always find something that relates."