Senior David Gonzalez is one of 65 Forty Acre Scholar finalists at the University of Texas. Last weekend, he attended Finalist Weekend where he met the other finalists, in addition to past Forty Acre scholars. He also had an individual interview for one of the coveted final 20 spots.
This honor comes after Gonzalez received a full ride offer from the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina. Forty Acre Scholars receive a full-ride to the University of Texas.
“[My dad and I] were sitting in our garage and we were just talking, and my dad doesn’t cry a lot,” Gonzalez said. “But he never went to college. He worked his way through high school. He graduated high school and worked for his family, and he gave me a hug and we just cried. And he was like, ‘You’ve worked for all of this and you deserve it. And I’m so proud of you.’”
Gonzalez is only the second Forty Acre finalist in Humble ISD history. A year ago, Kingwood High School’s valedictorian Matthew Freel was a finalist. Freel currently studies finance at the University of Notre Dame.
Gonzalez, who is the president of the Texas HOSA, a founder of the non-profit organization Atlas Health Equity Group, a member of National Honor Society, Science NHS, Spanish NHS, the dual credit Emergency Medical Technician course, and Hype Crew. He is also president of the campus HOSA organization, where he helped increase registration for bone marrow donation.
He finds out over spring break if he receives one of the 20 Forty Acres spots for the Class of 2029. After all his work throughout high school, his family is helping him stay grounded.
“My sister, she’s really funny because she’s obviously really proud of me, but she also kind of messes with me,” Gonzalez said. “[She’ll say,] ‘Take a chill pill, like you’re going to be alright.’”
Being a Forty Acre Scholar comes with a full ride to attend UT – including books, food, tuition, a travel stipend and more. Forty Acre scholars also have access to the best of UT’s resources and connections.
“The number one word that comes to mind [on Finalist Weekend] is remarkable,” Gonzalez said. “Like every single person that is a finalist is not only academically and service oriented. They all are remarkable in those aspects – but just as people, every person is such a kind, distinguished, hardworking, just an admirable person.”
To become a Forty Acre Scholar finalist, Gonzalez was part of the 2,150 students invited to apply from the 92,000 students who applied to UT this year. After that, he had an application to fill out and an essay. Then, he was one of 153 semifinalists chosen for a video interview. The 65 finalists were selected from that pool of applicants.
“There’s not a specific rubric that they look for,” Gonzalez said. “I think from my experience that the requirements are you have to be very high achieving and have done a lot in your high school career – academically and service oriented. I think the main thing that they look for in interacting with those people, like the current scholars that I met, they really look for change makers.”
Gonzalez said if he gets into the Forty Acres program, he will go to UT and study Public Health. Otherwise, he is waiting to hear back from Duke to make his decision. Ultimately, he plans on working as an emergency room physician and as a public health analyst. He will also continue his work with Atlas Health Equity Group, which advocates for access to medical education and opioid teen overdose awareness.
“I’ll be completely honest, [Forty Acres is] a very life-changing opportunity,” Gonzalez said. “And I also think that a lot of people talk about imposter syndrome and not really feeling like you deserve it or like not you’re not the right fit. But I would say that for me, at least in my experience, I struggle with that in other places. But when I saw this, I was more grateful rather than [feeling] like I didn’t deserve it. But I felt so appreciative that this opportunity was like laying in front of me.”
