Mechanical Engineering Grad Student Launches Mentoring Organization

During a meeting with an academic advisor in his freshman year at UCF, Marcus Royal '24 realized he was already behind. Three fundamental classes for aspiring engineers - physics, chemistry and calculus - were missing from his high school transcript, putting his engineering goals at risk before he'd truly begun.

Although Royal knew since high school that he wanted to be an engineer, he didn't know these courses were essential to succeeding in his studies. He enjoyed working with his hands, solving practical problems, and was interested in science, math, and technology. Mechanical engineering felt like the perfect intersection of all his interests.

What he didn't have was guidance.

Starting Behind - and Pushing Forward

Royal didn't know anyone in engineering or have access to mentors who could advise him on the classes a university engineering program required. When he later reconnected with two friends from high school - Kent Huerta and Isaac Washington, both civil engineering majors at the University of South Florida - he quickly discovered they faced many of the same challenges navigating STEM pathways without early guidance.

"I would've still been a year behind graduating if I [hadn't taken] an accelerated courseload," says Royal, who's now a mechanical engineering graduate student on track to become a double Knight. "We realized that … if we had some prior knowledge or someone to talk to us about STEM before we got to this level, or before we tried to enter STEM, we could have avoided those pitfalls."

That realization helped turn his personal ambitions into action that benefits others.

In 2024, Royal, Huerta and Washington co-founded STEM Mentorship Matters, an outreach program that connects students at their high school, Q. I. Roberts Junior-Senior High School, with professionals in STEM fields and equips them with the knowledge to successfully pursue their careers.

"We … didn't have that many opportunities or much education related to STEM when we were in high school," Royal says. "That made it a lot more difficult compared to our peers who did. So we thought, 'Is there any way to give something to students who were like us, who could use opportunities in STEM?'"

Giving Students a Head Start

What began as a grassroots effort serving just 30 students at Q. I. Roberts has since grown into a network of 10 high schools across Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, reaching hundreds of junior and senior high school students. The organization now includes 30 volunteer mentors who lead monthly workshops that connect professionals with students.

STEM Mentorship Matters also offers a range of resources, including guidance on applying to universities through the Common App, explanations of different engineering disciplines and advice on getting involved on campus. Monthly discussions focus on preparing for careers in STEM, with topics shaped by student interest and shared through the organization's Discord server.

From navigating the college application process and building strong resumes to learning how to network and apply for internships, volunteer mentors guide students to success in the classroom and beyond graduation.

"It helps students think, 'What would I want to do beyond middle and high school? Am I even interested in STEM?'" Royal says. "[And] it's OK if they're not. We're just trying to provide them with some insight. It also provides some insight into what they may want to do in STEM if they are interested."

Royal adds that these interactions help students narrow their interests, explore future career possibilities and feel more confident entering their chosen field. Just as important, it gives them something Royal says he and his co-founders lacked early on: encouragement.

"Just someone saying, 'You can do this if you set your mind to it,' is very important because we didn't have a lot of that pursuing STEM," he says. "And I feel it's important to have because it makes it easier to accomplish whatever you set out to do."

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