2023 Inspiring Graduate | Nic Estrada
May 10, 2023 - Savannah Peat
You’ll find plenty of public servants in Washington D.C., defending various cases for their prospective state. You won't, however, find one as young, passionate and innovative as UNM senior Nic Estrada.
The New Mexico native is graduating this spring with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science and History, and not one, not two, but three minors. Those cover sustainability studies, economics and interdisciplinary honors studies.
“I've been able to do all sorts of cool interdisciplinary work in all different fields and it's just been a lot of fun,” Estrada said. “The faculty are great, the people you meet are great and just everything is so much fun. I really enjoyed UNM.”
Estrada’s interest in defending New Mexico began at a young age. His grandparents built a strong foundation of hard work, defending what was theirs, and gaining back what was taken from them.
“I always kind of knew I wanted to do something with the environment. My grandfather's from a little town called San Jose, which had a really close relationship with water. I grew up hearing stories of how my grandfather used to have to go down to the Pecos River, fill up a basin with water and bring it to the house,” he said, “Even though I didn't know it at the time, I guess water was kind of always at the back of my mind.”
