Emily Alvarez
Multimedia Editor
University President Cynthia Teniente-Matson and Dr. Mari Fuentes-Martin announced the Golden Egg winners on the main stage at Fiesta de Cascarones this past weekend.
Competitors submitted a 30-second cascarones-themed video in the hopes of winning a free tuition waiver for one semester (up to 15 credit hours).
Winners can use this waiver for the Summer 2022 or Fall 2022 semester after financial aid is applied, according to the Texas A&M University–San Antonio website.
In a statement made to The Mesquite on March 12, University Communications and Marketing administrative coordinator, Veronica Flores, said that contestants were judged on “…creativity, originality, smash rating and if they met the basic criteria for submissions.”
One of the two winners announced is current student Abraham Segundo.
Segundo is a senior majoring in kinesiology. Upon completing his degree, he hopes to become a physical educator and science teacher.
“I was pretty shocked – in all honesty, I was kind of speechless and I was just thinking ‘wow.’ I was really excited for the opportunity and to just have a chance to be able to win it meant the world to me,” says Segundo.
Segundo first heard about the contest when logging into jagwire through the school website.
“…I saw it pop up on there, and I immediately thought like – since I pay out of pocket for school I was like, that’s a good opportunity and what’s the worst that could happen.”
The video shows Segundo cracking cascarones onto a variety of people, including the head of the kinesiology department, doctors within the department and Segundo’s very own professors.
“The main purpose was to bring light to the kinesiology department, and also just kind of capture Texas A&M-San Antonio and the community pretty much, cause you know, the teachers are always there for the students…,” Segundo said.
Near the end of the video, Segundo is seen cracking a cascarón onto the head of the unsuspecting Spurs Coyote mascot.
In a turn of events, the Coyote cracks a plastic ‘golden egg’ above Segundo’s head.
Segundo says that while scrolling through Instagram the night he learned about the contest, he came across a picture posted by the Spurs that featured the famous mascot.
“…I was just thinking like – man that’d be pretty crazy to have him in the video. I shot them a message and I let them know about the contest – I let them know that I was a student just trying to win a semester and that I wanted to be an educator, and he was like yeah let’s do it.”
Segundo says winning the contest created a lot of hope and excitement for his family.
“…I pay tuition out of pocket and sometimes it’s a struggle financially being able to afford to stay in school. As soon as they heard it, they were really excited for me and they know how much I struggle to keep going, and it was just a glimmer of hope. They were relieved and happy.”
Segundo provided words of advice for anyone looking to compete in future scholarship video contests.
“I would tell them to go for it, you know, and take advantage of each opportunity that you have cause you never know the outcome. Just take advantage of the opportunities that are available.”
