Reconnecting with Jairo: A TD Giving Fund Scholarship Story

When Jairo made it to the final stage of the Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Impact Scholarship application process two years ago, our committee was wowed by his confidence and intelligence and impressed by his aspirations as a budding, self-driven engineer. Jairo explained that when he was given his first iPhone in high school, he was curious about how it operated. Following his unique instinct, he disassembled the phone to study its parts and then reassembled it perfectly!

Jairo is currently finishing his sophomore year at the University of Nevada, Reno, majoring in computer science/engineering. With a 3.5 GPA, he is part of the school’s Honors Program, a challenge that gets him “out of his comfort zone.” Additionally, Jairo works as a teaching assistant for a graduate student in the computer science department. He holds office hours, does some grading and helps with labs. Jairo also joined the Nevada Electric Racing Car Club, where he and his teammates are building an electric vehicle from scratch and will race it against other universities’ cars this summer.

When asked what the TDGF Impact Scholarship has meant to him, Jairo gratefully expressed that “none of this would have been possible without this gift.” He plans to use his technological knowledge to someday help the world, be it with robots, AI/machine learning and more. Last summer, Jairo and I caught up over lunch in Truckee. He was anxious to show me his new car before we parted ways because – of course – he had already taken it apart and rebuilt it. Jairo has a bright future ahead of him!

BY DIANE CAMPBELL
Tahoe Donner Giving Fund Committee Member