“That’s what I really enjoy. It’s how data tells a story.” 

For computer science student Lupe Hernandez, Class of 2025, studying human-data interaction just makes sense. This field explores how data is collected, analyzed, presented, and understood. While he spends hours fixing code and studying data trends (he started working on computers at age eight) Hernandez is quick to share his love for socializing and community. He can often be found in the computing hall getting to know other students and professors. He says fostering these relationships has been his favorite part of attending Grand Valley State University.  

This blend of data-driven thought and love of community is an asset to his field of study. “There’s so much story in the data you get,” he shared. “Each piece of data is a person. It’s not just a point on a graph.”  

An Indirect Path
The data on Hernandez would say that he is an outlier, in college at 40 years old. During a 17-year hiatus from school, he worked a variety of jobs including stints at Blockbuster and Gentex. “Working in the customer service field taught me a lot about people,” he said, “I learned that people want to be listened to, talked to like a normal person, and understood.” After enjoying a freelance data analyst job, he wanted to dig deeper and found his way to Grand Valley. Hernandez is currently in a combined-degree program where, at the end, he’ll have earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied computer science. “I felt like I, being an older student coming back, was able to focus more on my education,” he said. “When I was younger, it’s not something I wanted to prioritize.”  

Motivated for the Journey
Hernandez's story shows how relationships drive his journey. He is inspired to keep going by his parents, who have both passed away. He lost his mom in 2011, which brought him back to Michigan. “True to my nature, I didn’t stop working,” he shared, “I processed it the best I could and continued trying to improve myself.” Hernandez later lost his father to COVID-19. “When I started school, my dad said he was very proud of me and very happy that I was in school, so I continued getting good grades, and then he got sick and passed away, and I did not stop pursuing my education… because that would be doing him a disservice,” he shared. “That’s what motivates me.” 

Supporting Success
Hernandez is a Thompson Scholar and is grateful this scholarship gives him the opportunity to focus on school. The Thompson Working Family Scholarship provides students with the financial, academic, and individualized support needed to successfully pursue and complete their degree. Hernandez cites past difficulties of completing coursework while working full time. “Splitting your time between learning and working is not the easiest thing to do,” he said. “I know that every student that I have come across that has received a scholarship has really appreciated it because it lets them focus on their education and not have to work and come to school at the same time.”  

Overall, Hernandez's goal is to demystify the complexities of data to make it accessible and useful for everyday people. “That’s what keeps me awake at night,” he said. He hopes to carry this love of learning into the future. “My ultimate goal after I get my degree is to be an educator,” he said, indicating that he would be okay teaching in a school or in the business world.  

While Hernandez's journey to earning his degrees hasn’t been a typical one, his life experience has given him a unique outlook that is well suited for his field of study. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” he said, “but apparently, my life knew what it wanted to do with me.” 

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