Contact: Jay Thompson
805-235-0955; jthomp04@calpoly.edu

First-generation student Denis Gonzalez-Reyes pursues her degree and serves as an example ‘of dreaming big despite coming from small beginnings’

SAN LUIS OBISPO — A first-generation Cal Poly aerospace engineering student has received a 2025 California State University Trustees’ scholar award for outstanding achievement and a scholarship for $7,000.

The trustee awards are presented annually to one student from each of the CSU system’s campuses. Like other honorees, Denis Gonzalez-Reyes was selected for superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.

“I feel very honored and have a lot of pride because, although this award only has my name on it, to me it recognizes everyone who has helped me throughout my journey thus far,” Gonzalez-Reyes said. “I have put in an enormous amount of work academically and into my community that makes me deserve of this award, but I really wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as I have without my supporters — my family, friends that I call my Cal Poly family, counselors and mentors that see more of my own potential. They are the ones who continuously fuel my ambition and energy to instill positive change in everything I do.”

Gonzalez-Reyes will be honored with the other CSU Trustee awardees at 4 p.m. today (Sept. 9) by CSU Chancellor Mildred García and the Board of Trustees during the board’s meeting in Long Beach.

She is this year’s TELACU scholar, the donor of her award. Formed as The East Los Angeles Community Union in 1968, the philanthropic organization’s mission, driven by the Chicano movement, focuses on community and economic development to create self-sustaining assets and foster self-sufficiency. Scholarships and academic support to first-generation college students are provided through the TELACU Education Foundation.

Gonzalez-Reyes was born in Salinas, California. Her family soon moved to Pittsburg, an industrial suburb on the southern shore of the Suisun Bay, where she spent her childhood and young adolescence. After 16 years in the Bay Area, she moved to Modesto amid COVID-19 due to her family’s financial hardships. Then, at age 17, she and her mother moved to Dinuba, about 30 miles southeast of Fresno.

Gonzalez-Reyes chose Cal Poly for its highly rated engineering program as well as the financial aid package the university offered.

“It was the best ‘bang for my buck,’ ” said the third-year aerospace major, “and it was really important for me to not cause financial strain on my family. I am most proud of making my family proud through my academic success — and doing it debt-free.

“Initially, I thought I wanted to pursue a career as a pilot; however, after I flew my first plane, I quickly realized that I was more enthused by the fact that the giant aircraft was 8,000 feet in the sky when only minutes before it was on the ground. That’s when I knew I wanted to dedicate myself to a career that focused on designing aircrafts.”

Amid Cal Poly’s efforts to attract more lower-income and first-generation students — and diversify the student body to more closely reflect the demographics of the state the university serves, Gonzalez-Reyes was eager to build a community of her own. She was inspired in 2023 to create the Puente @ Cal Poly club, influenced by similar “bridge” (puente is Spanish for bridge) or college prep programs in scores of California high schools and community colleges.

“At Cal Poly, we are a club that advances the lineage of the Puente Project,” she said. “Puente on Cal Poly’s campus is especially important because it primarily serves low-income, first-generation students to help them cross over the bridge, even if there seems like there hasn’t been a bridge built. Puente is a family, and it is open to anyone who wants to succeed — but even more so, those who want to see others succeed.”

The club has thrived, impacting nearly 500 students through social events and personalized tours for prospective students from the Puente Program.

“We weren’t just hosting events; we were building a fundamental community that diversified the campus, helping underrepresented students see themselves at a four-year university,” Gonzalez-Reyes said.

She has found similar support through institutional programs such as the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) and Cal Poly Scholars. And she contributes to the Assembly, Integration and Testing team in the College of Engineering’s CubeSat Laboratory, which develops small satellites that are designed and built by students and readied for launch into space as secondary payloads on major launches.

She also is the SHPEtina representative for the Cal Poly chapter of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and mentors several students in programs such as EOP’s Summer Institute, the Mustang Mentors Program and PolyCultural Weekend.

The challenges of being a first-generation, low-income and underrepresented minority student have propelled her. Primarily raised by a single parent working in the agricultural sector with little financial support, the 20-year-old scholar is reminded by her family and community that her pursuit of higher education is also about paving a path to academic excellence for younger students.

After earning her degree, Gonzalez-Reyes anticipates entering the aviation industry, where she’ll continue to inspire and motivate others.

“I also eagerly look forward to pursuing my private pilot’s license and exploring the hobby of flying small planes,” she said. “My long-term goals include being a strong example of dreaming big despite coming from small beginnings. As a first-gen, low-income and minority student, I want to increase representation in the aviation industry and quite literally demonstrate that the sky is the limit.”

Top photo: Denis Gonzalez-Reyes, a first-generation Cal Poly aerospace engineering student,  received a 2025 California State University Trustees’ scholar award for outstanding achievement and a scholarship for $7,000. The Dinuba, California, resident is this year’s TELACU scholar, the donor of her award. Scholarships and academic support to first-generation college students are provided through the TELACU Education Foundation. Amid Cal Poly’s efforts to attract more lower-income and first-generation students — and diversify the student body to more closely reflect the demographics of the state the university serves, the third-year College of Engineering student was eager to build a community of her own. She was inspired in 2023 to create the Puente @ Cal Poly club, influenced by similar “bridge” (puente is Spanish for bridge) or college prep programs in scores of California high schools and community colleges.

Cal Poly photo by Joe Johnston