Fred Montemayor

A Tight Schedule
By: Caroline Riettini


Standing at 6 foot 3 inches tall, Houston sophomore Fred Montemayor is a very busy person. From religion to culture, Montemayor is involved in many groups here at SFA. He is a Community Assistant in Steen Hall and a member of the Organization of Latin Americans. He is also involved in the Pagan Alliance, the debate team and is a contributing writer for the University newspaper, the Pine Log.
“I don’t have any extra time for hobbies,” Montemayor laughed, “I’m always going from one meeting to another.” With wavy black hair and tan complexion, Montemayor has a few bonuses for keeping such a tight schedule. “Being a CA helps out with tuition a lot. It also pays my full housing bill,” he said. Montemayor also enjoys Steen Hall in particular, because it does not have community bathrooms and because it has elevators and a 24-hour visitation policy.
But why did Montemayor choose these organizations in particular? “Well, I was involved in newspaper since I was a senior in high school, and in debate since I was a sophomore. I decided to keep them up,” he said. His reason for being involved in the Pagan Alliance is because he was raised Catholic and wanted to see what Paganism is all about. “I’m very open minded when it comes to different religions,” Montemayor said, sitting back in his chair. “Pagan Alliance has taught me a lot.”
Montemayor also enjoys being a member of the Organization of Latin Americans. “I know it’s stereotypical group for me to be a part of,” he joked, “But my culture has always been important to me.” Montemayor has helped plan the Tone of Oppression event on November 6, which the Organization of Latin Americans will be hosting. Montemayor described this event as “kind of like a museum gallery of different types of racism. It will open people’s eyes when it comes to different cultures.” This event will take place in the education building.
Although he is already juggling these many organizations and events, Montemayor’s schedule is far from finished. He is taking 18 hours of classes this semester and double majoring in journalism and political science. Balancing his grades with his level of involvement in school organizations has not been an issue. “Grades have been pretty easy, now that I’m able to take classes that are more specific to my majors,” he said. Before Montemayor did not have such an easy time with political science. Because it is a requirement course for the major, Montemayor is taking the introduction to political science class. “The first five chapters were over statistics and numbers! I’m a Liberal Arts major for a reason. Math is not my strong point,” Montemayor pointed out. Now that his class has moved on from the math side of political science, he is not as stressed out.
With such a full calendar, most students would be in dire need of a massage. Montemayor, however, is a very easygoing person. “I like to take life one day at a time. If I tried to look at it all at once, I would probably freak out,” he said. Although he is balancing so many activities and classes, he does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.