Antonio “Tony” Maldonado is busy. Actually, that’s putting it mildly.
The junior accounting and finance double-major (with Dean’s Honor Roll grades) works part time at H-E-B Grocery to help pay for school. He’s also an active member of the men’s social club Gamma Sigma Phi, volunteers with an outreach ministry through Hillcrest Church of Christ as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters, and is training for his first marathon.
If you think he’d have wanted to take a break during Summer 2017, then you don’t know Tony: He spent the time fulfilling an eight-week infantry training commitment for the Army National Guard.
“I enlisted my freshman year,” Tony said. “My father was a Marine, and my older brother also is in the Army National Guard. Service to our country has always been respected by my family.”
He deferred an accounting internship with Ernst & Young in Dallas to Summer 2018 so he could complete his training, and he’d love to work at the firm after graduation. But first, he had a duty to fulfill.
“We have always believed it is important to serve,” he said.
His parents, Angel Jr. and Lydia Maldonado, also instilled in their four children the value of education. Lydia homeschooled Tony and his three siblings, drilling into them the incredible opportunities that can come from a Christian higher education, Tony said. His sister attended University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas; his older brother, Angel Maldonado III (’17), is completing his Master of Accounting degree at ACU; and his youngest brother, Andrew, is now a freshman here.
Like most students, scholarships have helped make his ACU journey a reality.
“I want to thank the donors who made my scholarships possible,” he said. “Their gifts gave me the opportunity to come to a school that changed my life. From the deep, meaningful friendships that I know will last a lifetime to the way this environment has helped to challenge and deepen my faith – ACU has changed my life and my future.”