Jade Gonzalez, senior neuroscience major, is an FYE peer tutor, member of Trinity Diversity Connection’s executive board, member of SPURS sorority, external chair of the academic honor council, social media influencer and photographer. She is a determined student who has big things planned.
Gonzalez developed an interest in studying neuroscience after her mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was five years old. Gonzalez navigated her life around her mom’s condition from a young age.
“I was looking for a school when I applied to college that had a good program, and neuroscience kept calling my name,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted to learn more about it, and that’s why Trinity stood out to me when I applied due to the well-known and highly accredited program.”
During the pandemic, Gonzalez wanted to give back to her community and have something beneficial to do during her time in quarantine. Due to COVID restrictions, she had more free time to help people and put her skills to good use. She became involved with suicide crisis text lines and trained for a month to get her credentials.
“I have had people in my life struggle with mental illness, and unfortunately, some have passed away from that,” Gonzalez said. “I took this experience as an opportunity to be there for someone and get them through the day in a calm and cool state.”
Gonzalez applies her passion for helping others in her role as a student mentor. Gonzalez has been a peer tutor for the “A Successful Life” FYE and worked alongside her biggest supporter, Sheryl Tynes, professor of sociology and anthropology, who teaches the class and has helped Gonzalez throughout her experience at Trinity. Gonzalez said that helping first-generation students navigate their first-year experience means a lot to her as a first-generation student herself.
“Being able to get involved on campus has given me a greater sense of purpose,” Gonzalez said. “I am so glad I came to Trinity, and I have enjoyed my experience here so much. The people I have met from my friends to teacher mentors have gotten me through the past four years. Dr. Tynes has had the biggest influence on me. She has given me so much support and we have always kept in touch from when she was my FYE teacher to now being her peer tutor.”
Gonzalez is an advocate in Trinity Diversity Connection (TDC) for uplifting minority voices and helping with events and advertising. Her role on the executive board of TDC as a social media manager allows her to put her love for social media to work. She also stays engaged with her creative side as a photographer. Gonzalez started getting into photography in high school and spent time capturing the world around her.
“After a while, I didn’t know what to do with all my pictures and videos that I had so I started applying them to another social media platform like TikTok,” Gonzalez said. “I started posting basic videos of what my friends and I would do on a daily basis and started getting a lot of views and followers. That’s when I got more engaged with TikTok and started posting restaurant and food reviews and activities to do in different places.”
She later started to see a lot of benefits from her work on TikTok and had brands promote her and send her products, which increased her pursuit of social media. Many of her followers would comment and reach out to her to ask for recommendations and requests on her account @jjadegonzalez.
“My dream in life is to be a physician who can also utilize social media to share knowledge and answer questions that people may have,” Gonzalez said. “My passion for social media and what I want to do as my career go hand in hand, and I hope to integrate that into my future.”
