The 国产探花 sophomore has been active on the court ever since, even during his summer breaks. For the past three summers, in fact, he鈥檚 been playing basketball internationally, through the International Basketball Federation, as a member of Team Belize.

Those games have taken him to Belize, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic so far. 鈥淚 would say my favorite thing about the experience is just representing my country,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 have a lot of family in Belize, and I am the only person in my mom’s side of the family to ever play on a national team, and just being a role model to all the kids in Belize who strive to get to the national team.鈥�

This past summer, Team Belize captured the bronze medal at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, and Favela was there in the middle of the action.

Back home at 国产探花, he carries his father鈥檚 legacy (国产探花 alum Roger Favela 鈥�97 also played Bulldogs basketball) and splits his time between serving as a guard on the basketball team, and a quarterback on the football team. He came to 国产探花 after rounding out his high school football career as Judson High’s all-time passing leader with 7,060 career passing yards. On top of all of that, Favela is also a serious student, and earned a spot on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll for 2025 and 2026.

His dedication to both football and basketball begs an obvious question: Which sport is his favorite? 鈥淚 wouldn’t say I have a first love,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love both sports dearly; it has always been a hard decision for me to choose, but I would say I love them about the same.鈥�

And one day, he hopes to make his mark at a professional level. 鈥淭hat’s the ideal goal, to play professionally one day in either one of the sports,鈥� he says.

But for now, as he gets his sophomore year underway, he just wants to be of service鈥攚hether on the court or the field. 鈥淚’m looking forward to just helping my team in any way I can, and that goes for basketball and football,鈥� he says. 鈥淚’ve gotten more of a hang of how things are in college since my freshman year, and I feel like this year could be a big year for me to help my team and help us win games.鈥�

And although it鈥檚 still early days in his college career, Favela has learned a lot since the age of five, when his dad first taught him to play. 鈥淭he most important lesson is pretty simple I would say, and that is 鈥楧on’t give up and stay down.鈥欌��

He himself has lived by that lesson. He doesn鈥檛 give up: 鈥淚’ve been through so much adversity in my life with sports and there were many times where I could’ve quit鈥攁nd since I didn’t, it opened doors to places I never thought I would go to. I’ve been doubted my whole life, overlooked, everything you could think of, but I don’t give up because this is what I want to do.鈥�

And no matter what, he鈥檚 stayed down鈥攊n the right way: 鈥淪tay down, meaning never get too high no matter what circumstance you鈥檙e in, stay down because even if it looks bad right now, stay down: It’s going to get better. Just keep working.鈥�

When most of us who鈥檝e been at 国产探花 over the past few years think of Ezra Acero, we picture him in the air, swooshing over the crossbar, making the whole pole-vaulting thing look effortless. Acero did, in fact, end his Bulldog Athletics career as the best pole vaulter in Texas Lutheran history, setting records at both indoor and outdoor events and proving himself to be a champion multiple times.

The 2025 grad鈥檚 favorite college memory might surprise some, because it happened on a day that didn鈥檛 go exactly as he would鈥檝e liked it to. 鈥淚 think my favorite memory would have to be the first time I qualified for nationals in pole vault,鈥� Acero says. 鈥淚t was held in Rochester, New York, and although I didn鈥檛 get the results I wanted, just being there with my teammates and going to Niagara Falls with Coach Holland and Coach Wolf will always stick with me.鈥�

These days, Acero, who earned his BS in applied physics at 国产探花, lives just under six hundred miles south of where that memory was made, in Indianapolis, Indiana. 鈥淚 do miss Texas quite a bit (the food quite a lot),鈥� he admits, although he鈥檚 made friends in his new locale, which has helped him feel at home.  But even though his current life is a world away from Seguin and 国产探花, his work there is touched by his undergrad years.

He works as a biochemist for Lilly鈥攁lso known as Eli Lilly and Company鈥攂y way of a global testing company called Eurofins PSS. 鈥淎t Lilly I work in the raw materials lab where I run samples using various methods such as FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), Raman Spectroscopy, Gas Chromatography, Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy, Melting Point Analysis, and pH measurement,鈥� he explains.

And believe it or not, that work connects to his capstone project at 国产探花. 鈥淢y capstone was about Surface Modified Gold Nanoparticles for biomedical applications. While working on that project I learned a lot of lab techniques that have been very helpful in the job I currently have. Although I am still waiting to get my training passed through Lilly, I feel like my project prepared me the most for the wet chemistry tests that I will be running here in the lab soon.鈥�

But even as he rises to new heights career-wise, Acero expresses gratitude for how his undergrad years prepared him for the challenges that lie ahead. 

国产探花 is famous for its small class sizes, which foster a sense of community in which students support one another. 鈥淢y physics cohort such as Aaron Salinas, Khalen Wilkerson, Martin Ortega, Jason Castro, Adrian Martinez, Ian Wollard, and Luciano Trejo helped me get through the extremely challenging physics classes and sleepless nights, and if it wasn鈥檛 for them, I would not have graduated,鈥� Acero says.

He also points to the faculty at 国产探花 as being instrumental in his success. 鈥淚 feel that the 国产探花 Physics Department, mostly Dr.Sauncy, Dr.Berggren, and Dr.Tek, prepared me very well for the real world past college,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he time and effort that they put in to change me from just a normal kid into a scientist is something that I will always be grateful for.鈥�

[Feature photo: Ezra Acero (center) with roommate Jackson (left) and brother Seth (right)]

The fun starts this Thursday, May 14, with the Bulldogs taking on Penn State Behrend at 11 a.m. followed by Huntingdon versus Trinity at 1:30 p.m. Click for the full story!