For many students, having a social life, studying full-time and holding a job can be challenging yet rewarding. Add in extracurriculars, clinicals and being a Laredo College role model, and that describes a faint picture of what life was like for Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) student Leonardo Antonio Benavides Caballero at Laredo College.
With graduation steadily approaching, Benavides Caballero found himself reminiscing about his time at LC, both as an employee and student, as he moved closer to the ADN Pinning Ceremony and graduation. 
Chances are that current and new students met him at the Office of Recruitment and Dual Enrollment. At both the Ft. McIntosh and South Campus offices, he would handle regular office duties, but Benavides Caballero cherishes the experience of mentoring high school students transitioning to college as the most rewarding part of his job.
“That role gave me the opportunity to guide students…it improved my communication and leadership skills while also helping me become more involved on campus,” Benavides Caballero said.
While walking through the halls and classrooms at the LC College of Health Sciences, where he dedicated most of his time, he described the ADN Program as both demanding and life-changing. “Some days were long and tiring, especially during clinical rotations, but they were also the most rewarding because that’s where I learned the most,” he said.
He found his calling to be a nurse through his grandfather, a carpenter by trade, as he remembered times when he would help tend to his injuries. These moments were always on his mind as he continued to stay at his grandfather’s side, especially at the hospital during his last days.
“That experience made me realize how important it is to have someone there who cares, and it inspired me to become that person for others,” Benavides Caballero said.
Despite the sentimental and psychological pressure of his education, work responsibilities and the mantle of student role model, he managed to find the time and balance by staying focused and constantly reminding himself why he chose to become a nurse. Between clinical rotations and work, he said it was important to find time to play video games and watch soccer and baseball games to help relieve stress.
These years of hard work at the college did not go unnoticed.
At the Spring 2025 Student Life Awards, Benavides Caballero was recognized with the prestigious and highly coveted Golden Palomino Award for Student of the Year 2024–2025. He said the award will always be one of his most cherished LC memories.
He credits his success to his parents’ sacrifices, siblings’ support, friends’ encouragement and co-worker’s familial bond. During a high-spirited and emotional Student Life First-Generation Ceremony, a celebration of students who are first in their family to graduate college, Benavides Caballero was corded by his mother, Elena Caballero Gonzalez. The ceremony invoked cheers and tears, as a wave of generational pride washed over the graduates and their loved ones.
He also recited the Nightingale Pledge after receiving his pin at the ADN Pinning Ceremony. Benavides Caballero will finish strong as he walks the stage during the Spring 2026 Commencement. As for what comes after, he is set to begin work as a registered nurse and hopes to one day become a nurse practitioner.
To current, new and future students, he leaves a piece of hard-earned wisdom.
“Stay consistent and don’t give up, even when things get hard,” the proud nursing graduate said. “It’s okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes, but what matters is that you keep going. Trust the process and believe in yourself.”