Abraham Ortiz, alumnus of Georgia Highlands College, is now Marietta’s new student life coordinator.

As a GHC student, Ortiz was a student leader for the club Brother 2 Brother and won several awards such as the Diversity Leadership award and the Board of Regents Academic Achievement award. Now that he is a coordinator, he monitors student activities and programs. He also plans budgets, creates student guidelines and attends events.

After leaving GHC in 2012, Ortiz went on to get his bachelor’s in psychology at University of Georgia.

While at University of Georgia, he was a student ambassador, the president of Latinos Invested in the Students of Tomorrow (LISTo) and a part of the Hispanic Student Association.

Ortiz said, “It was very rewarding to be in LISTo because it incorporated a lot of the things I did in Brother 2 Brother at GHC with an emphasis on the Latino community.”

Ortiz stated, “I feel honored to be in this position. It’s truly a great experience to be on the other side of student involvement as a coordinator.”

Ortiz remembers how active he was in GHC’s community and how he would interact with the previous student coordinator, Alexis Carter, who was always eager and excited to interact with students.

“Being a student, I’ve built great relationships with the faculty members, so it’s like I’m home and among family when I’m here,” he said.

Jon Hershey, professor of English, dean of Humanities and adviser of Brother 2 Brother, said, “Ortiz was an impressive student leader when he attended Georgia Highlands and served as president of Brother 2 Brother.”

He continued, “We are both fortunate and proud that he has chosen to begin his professional career at Georgia Highlands.”