The Smith, Menchaca household awarded Family of the Year during Family Weekend

Family Weekend at Texas State University is a time for families to experience campus life at the university with their Bobcat through various events and activities. It’s also a time to recognize and honor families who go above and beyond to support their current students.

The Family of the Year award was given to the Smith and Menchaca household during this year’s Family Weekend, which drew nearly 12,000 registrants for activities from Sept. 19-21.

Over Family Weekend, Daniel, a freshman health sciences major, attended a private recognition event with President Kelly Damphousse and First Lady Beth Damphousse and the Family Weekend Tailgate with his parents, two brothers, and girlfriend.

The Smith family was recognized on the field during the first quarter of the football game.

Daniel’s decision to attend TXST came from his cousin, Jamie, and aunt being alums. When it was time to tour universities, Jamie showed him around campus and led him around San Marcos. His family fell in love, and his mind was made up.

He considers his family being awarded Family of the Year a huge accomplishment.

The Smith family is always there for Daniel, even when it comes to his love of acquiring more items for his residence hall room. His father often runs by local Goodwill stores to look for the furniture he likes.

He sees his parents every weekend, and if he needs to talk about a grade that he wasn’t particularly proud of, they help him get through it.

While he’s a California native, the Smith family moved a few times before landing in Lago Vista. His mother lived in Houston when Daniel was an infant, so she knew the area and state well.

Daniel experienced bullying through his childhood and into grade school. There was also negativity surrounding the areas where they lived, so they decided to move to Texas when he was in middle school.

“I overcame it largely by coming home and crying to my mom that kids were making fun of me,” he said. “To no fault to anyone, we were pretty poor. It was just situational. It was small things that the kids would pick on. My mom would try and buy me the right things to help my insecurities. She’s a problem fixer and helped me dive into my emotions. It was a huge blessing moving to Texas because our situation became so much better.”

He said the biggest part of his personal foundation is his family’s participation.

“I was extremely lucky to grow up with parents who always showed up,” he said. “They came to anything and everything, whether it was a sports game or an award presentation. There was never an excuse of work or being too tired. I now build myself up as a person who always shows up and is there for people because of them.”

Daniel hopes to explore pathways to becoming a doctor once he graduates, but he knows one thing for sure — “I just know I want to help people.”