Diego Guzman, a recent graduate of Texas’ San Antonio Independent School District, is in the process of taking the next steps toward achieving his goal of becoming a museum curator. The 2025 Valedictorian of the Young Men’s Leadership Academy (YMLA) is one of 750 students nationwide to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship.

The scholarship covers 100 percent of a recipient’s tuition and fees, living expenses, and books each academic year. As a result, Guzman will attend the University of Texas at Austin without incurring student debt.

“I'm so grateful to Gates,” Guzman said in a story published on the district’s website. “They are targeting the people who need the help most, the minorities, the people that lack the funds to pursue endeavors when they are capable of doing so.”

Because of YMLA’s dual enrollment partnership with McMurry University, Guzman has earned over 30 credit hours in higher education classes that can advance his placement within the University of Texas at Austin system.

With the added scholarship support, he will be able to pursue a double major and enhance his profile in the museum industry.

In addition to serving as the 2025 class president and president of the art club at YMLA, Guzman serves as a Teen Art Guide at the McNary Art Museum in San Antonio. This opportunity allows him to learn more about his desired career path while informing visitors about the museum and its contents.

Guzman believes curators have a lot of power in the community and that being able to put out artists’ works that promote new, innovative, and ultimately good ideas is his ultimate goal.  

“I want to not only do what amazing curators are already doing in fostering incredible visuals with amazing ideas,” said Guzman, “but also pushing those works out and capturing the attention of people in the community, people in the city, and people around the world.”