{"id":100619,"date":"2021-01-29T08:48:28","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T13:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=100619"},"modified":"2022-09-28T10:21:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T14:21:05","slug":"playing-for-keeps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2021\/01\/29\/playing-for-keeps\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing for keeps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Juan Mu\u00f1oz earned his history degree and M.B.A. from Wright State.<\/p><\/div>\n

“Everyone likes to play outside.”<\/p>\n

Those are the words of Juan Mu\u00f1oz, a double-degree graduate of Wright State University and co-coordinator of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, chapter of Latino Outdoors.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s mission is to inspire, connect and engage Latino communities in the outdoors and embrace culture and family as part of the outdoor narrative to help ensure that Latino heritage and leadership are valued and represented.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a passion for getting involved in the Latino community and combining that with the outdoors simply grabbed me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The chapter recently received a $15,000 state grant to help purchase or rent gear for youth-focused programs. Mu\u00f1oz has arranged with a local gym to hold socially distanced monthly events and has mentored two Latino teenagers and taught them to climb at a local climbing gym.<\/p>\n

He said the biggest challenge has been adjusting to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work with a few kids individually here and there, but look forward to the time when we can go boating down the Rio Grande or climbing in the Sandia Mountains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz grew up in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, before moving to Bellbrook, Ohio. His father, Pedro J. Mu\u00f1oz, is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz graduated from Wright State in 2010 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in history<\/a>. In 2016, he earned his Master of Business Administration<\/a> with a focus on marketing and international business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a flexible degree,\u201d he said. \u201cMarketing felt natural with my writing background in history and the languages that I speak and led me to international business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz said the academics were great.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only sing the praises of the history, marketing and international business departments,\u201d he said. \u201cHonorable mentions go to professors Damaris Serrano, Tony Ortiz, Riad Ajami, Wakiuru Wamwara and Kendall Goodrich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz called his experience with extracurriculars \u201cfantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy involvement with the Office of Latino Affairs was instrumental in sharpening my personal mission to diversity in outdoor spaces,\u201d he said. \u201cMy graduate assistantship with the Outdoor Resource Center educated me in environmental education and stewardship, a lesson I am eternally grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of Amy Anslinger, former assistant director of Outdoor Recreation<\/a>, Mu\u00f1oz developed two outdoor winter trips to Puerto Rico for students. He also helped coordinate field trips and managed the team-building ropes course and the 70-foot-high climbing and rappelling tower programs.<\/p>\n

Erin Sherrets, Outdoor Recreation program manager, said Mu\u00f1oz was always making people laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn outdoor trips when exposed to the elements, comedic relief is always welcome, and Juan was always there for that,\u201d she said. \u201cJuan is dedicated and extremely passionate, which shines in everything he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating with his M.B.A., Mu\u00f1oz moved to New Mexico. He landed a job as social services coordinator with the Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership, a nonprofit organization that builds affordable housing for seniors and young families.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz organized food pantries, tutoring programs, physical exams, Tai Chi and classes in Zumba, high school equivalency and citizenship. He also developed the first STEM Scouts Lab in New Mexico. He currently is the agency\u2019s business development analyst, working primarily on federal, state and local funding applications for building projects.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz said trying new things at Wright State shaped his worldview.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just the academics, but the study abroad programs through which I studied in Salamanca, Spain; Meknes, Morocco; and Budapest, Hungary,\u201d he said. \u201cInvolvement in my local Latino community through Latino Affairs clarified my goal of becoming a mentor to youth, and the Outdoor Resource Center gave me a means by which to communicate. Everyone likes to play outside.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Mu\u00f1oz, who earned a history degree and M.B.A. from Wright State, combines his passion for the Latino community and the outdoors. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":100643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4299,748,2105,2060,725,4863,747,2050,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-profile","category-business","category-campus-recreation","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-humanities-and-cultural-studies","category-liberal-arts","category-mba","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100619"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100697,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100619\/revisions\/100697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}