Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
McALLEN, Texas – South Texas College’s newest Computer Information Technologies (CIT) faculty member, Ramiro Santos believes he has come full circle.
Not long ago, Santos was a dual credit student from PSJA Southwest Early College High School, who turned to STC faculty for guidance as he discovered a passion for Computer Science. Thanks to college faculty at the time, Santos said he began imagining where the degree choice might take him.
Now, several years later, Santos, 23, has returned to STC ready to offer the same encouragement to a new generation of CIT students.
For Santos, beginning his first semester as a lecturer at STC, where his own journey began, represents an opportunity to show students just how far their first steps in higher education can take them.
“I had no idea what Computer Science was,” Santos recalled. “I took my first ever Computer Science class in high school and from there I fell in love with programming. It worked because I always loved computers and technology.”
Upon earning an associate degree in Computer Science from STC while still in high school, Santos went on to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree, also in Computer Science, from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Santos said his experience at STC became especially meaningful during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of his education shifted online. At that time, he said faculty remained accessible throughout that difficult period, and he frequently attended virtual office hours for help with assignments, questions or simply to talk with someone.
He said those relationships left a lasting impression.
“Teaching has become my passion because I have come to understand that when you’re teaching someone, you are learning as well,” Santos said. “You are reinforcing the materials that you have been taught, and the opportunity is always there to discover something you didn’t know before.”
Santos first put that teaching philosophy into practice at UTRGV, where he worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant and later as a teaching assistant coordinator.
While pursuing his master’s degree, his passion for education led to an opportunity to teach an introductory Computer Science course.
The experience allowed him to introduce students to the possibilities within the field, including machine learning, game development, web development and cybersecurity.
At the same time, Santos said he worked as a research assistant conducting theoretical computer science research, an experience he now hopes to share with STC students.
Santos said one of his goals is to eventually establish opportunities for students to participate in research, learn how academic research is conducted and potentially contribute to work that could be presented or published.
Inside the classroom, Santos said students can expect an instructor who wants to keep them engaged while connecting foundational computer science concepts to a rapidly changing industry, which includes artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and large language models.
Santos said he also wants students to build substantial projects they can eventually take into job interviews and use to demonstrate their abilities to prospective employers.
“I want students to go out into the world with as much experience as I can give them while they are still here in college,” Santos said. “Through it all, I want students to know that I will be her for them every step of the way, just like STC faculty was there for me.”
CIT Assistant Professor Nicholas Hinojosa said Santos’ experience makes him valuable to students who may be considering their own transition from STC into a four-year university and eventually graduate school.
“We are very proud of his (Santos) accomplishments and how far he has come in such a short time,” Hinojosa said. “His journey from dual credit to faculty is a very interesting story and very inspirational for our students.”
For more information on STC’s Computer Information Technologies program, visit southtexascollege.edu/academics/computer-info-tech/.
