Gavin Tomasz Mercado

Gavin Tomasz Mercado graduated from Montana State University Dec. 17 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Enhancement K-12 and a minor in coaching. Mercado was among 838 undergraduate students that received degrees at the fall commencement ceremony.

"I couldn't have completed such a monumental task like graduating Montana State University without the support of my family and close friends," Mercado wrote in an email.

After finishing his student teaching experience, Mercado had the opportunity to co-teach and coach seventh grade health and physical education and seventh grade boys basketball. "Man, [it] was a blast! The content, the health aspect, the games and the overall quality environment immediately had me hooked!" Mercado wrote. "If all goes well, I will be teaching HPE with seventh grade for the remainder of the 2022 school year."