Glorisel Cruz wanted to be different from her family.

 Cruz is the youngest of six children, but she is the first one in her family to go to college.

 “None of my brothers or sister went to college, so I wanted to do something different and something better, and I thought college was a good start,” Cruz said.

Cruz was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was eight years old and lived with her family in Logansport, Ind.

She said she chose USI because of the size and the price.

“It’s cheap; it’s small,” Cruz said. “I didn’t want to go to a big school, so it was perfect.”

This semester, she began her junior year as a health services and Spanish double major.

Cruz invests some of her time as the Hispanic Student Union president and a member in the African Student Union – which her suite mate founded.

This fall she joined the Housing and Residence Life and became a resident assistant (RA).

“I like helping people,” Cruz said. “I mean obviously they pay your room and board, but I think helping people and getting the experience, getting to know more people is more important.”

Cruz said she wants to continue her education after her time at USI ends.

“I want to get my master’s in Spanish,” Cruz said. “As a hobby, I want to teach classes to those who don’t know English.”

In the spring of 2011, she became involved with Student Support Services (SSS).

“I really wasn’t interested in going (to SSS) at first,” Cruz said.

She then met with SSS Director Mike Minton, who convinced her to join.

“I went there because I wanted to see if they could help me financially, and they … also gave me a job as a tutor and a mentor,” Cruz said. “They have been there if I have had any questions.”

Minton said he thinks Cruz stands out from her peers.

“She really stood out as someone not only excelling academically, but someone who was really developing into a good student leader,” Minton said.

Cruz was one of the first students to win the co-student of the year for SSS because of how new the program is, Minton said.

“We are really thoroughly proud of her,” he said. “I think she is a great example of a USI student who works very hard, but also intentionally takes advantage of opportunities on campus.