Meet Anacleto Giovanni Contreras, a counselor at UT Outreach – Dallas (a unit within the Longhorn Center for School Partnerships). In his role, he assists students in developing a course of action for life after high school.

“It may be attending a four-year university, a two-year college, trade school or heading straight into the job force,” he says. “We [UT Outreach] are here to serve the students’ passions and allow them to see them become reality. I never ask kids what they want to be, but how do they want to live as adults.”

Before coming to UT Austin in January 2017, Contreras worked as a supply and logistics coordinator for TAC Energy. What he enjoys most about his new position is the opportunity and privilege to transform lives on a daily basis.

Outside of work he enjoys reading and training his gorgeous and talented German Shepherds (pictured above).

Although he currently lives in Mesquite, Texas, he was born and raised in Ojitos de Santa Lucia, Zacatecas, Mexico before coming to the United States when he was about seven. His next goal is to begin work on his doctorate degree in the near future.