Raúl Lopez III ’25 never hesitated to step up throughout his years at Florida Polytechnic University, co-founding student organizations and achieving big academic goals. When the computer science major addresses his fellow graduates as the student commencement speaker on Sunday, May 4, Lopez will encourage the crowd to believe in themselves, no matter the situation. “I’m so proud and honored to be on that podium because I feel like this community has been my identity for these last couple of years and I know how hard my peers have worked. Sharing this moment with such a talented group of people means the world to me,” he said.
After graduation, the Weston, Florida, native will move to New York City and launch a career as a full-stack software engineering officer in Global Markets Technology at Bank of America – a position that stemmed from a successful summer internship there in 2024. Lopez is a graduate of Pembroke Pines Charter High School and was very active on campus during his years at Florida Poly, including co-founding and serving in leadership positions in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, K-POP KREW, Pickleball Club and Volleyball Club. Lopez also was the varsity captain and title manager of the Overwatch Esports program and participated in U Lead, where he was a Presidential Ambassador, career liaison, teaching assistant, resident assistant and research assistant.
In my senior year of high school, I needed to pick what I wanted to do, and I asked myself what field would let me do many, many different things. Computer science. It’s embedded into virtually every single industry, whether its medicine or the financial world. I thought that long term, computer science would allow me to explore many different things and see new things from year to year, and really foster a lifestyle that never gets stagnant.
It hasn’t been easy, and so that makes it all the more meaningful. This is real-life stuff that I’ve been preparing for – it feels kind of like it’s been an uphill climb and I’m finally reaching the summit of the mountain. Now, I’m looking abroad and can see everything, and it feels super good. My family is so proud of me. It’s a great feeling.
My esports involvement – it feels like my baby throughout these years at Florida Poly. I found my entire friend group through that organization. We’ve put in blood, sweat, and tears practicing, scrimmaging, doing official matches, reviewing our gameplay. And we’ve had really good runs. Last year, we made it all the way to nationals, placing third out of 200-plus teams from all around the nation. We’ve had underdog stories where we just barely qualified into playoffs and then we upset and beat the number-two team. It’s something I have so much pride in that I was able to contribute to and be a part of.
The future is AI. I feel like everyone’s starting to realize that and I definitely want to jump on that ship sooner than later. Thankfully, my position with Bank of America is very relevant to AI. I collected some artificial intelligence experience in my internship, and I’ve done as many AI classes here as possible. Moving forward, I’m going to try to keep heading in that direction and contributing to the revolution we’re currently watching with artificial intelligence.
Like a math function, what you put in is what you get out. Don’t settle for just going through the curriculum and the degree flowchart and just doing your classes. You need to put yourself out there, market yourself, and associate yourself with things, people, organizations and ideas that can take you further. And that doesn’t necessarily have to be anything professional. It could be a hobby, but the key is to turn that hobby into something tangible and associate yourself with it physically by engaging with a group or organization. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people not only sparks creativity but is super valuable. These experiences can be highlighted on your resume when applying for internships, whether you were a member or a leader of an organization. Even if it’s not a professional group, it shows initiative – and initiative is the one skill that will take you far.
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of Q&As with several Florida Poly Class of 2025 graduates.
Contact:
Lydia Guzmán
Director of Communications
863-874-8557
