Temple College student Benito Costilla is one of 14 students nationwide who have been selected to receive a scholarship to attend the 2016 Emerge Latino Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

The conference will be held Feb 23-25 and is sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Costilla is president of the Temple College Young Adult League of United Latin American Citizens.

The three-day conference offers college students from across the country an opportunity to receive valuable training in civic engagement and advocacy; engage in public policy briefings on issues such as public health, education and immigration; and network with professionals at a career exposition. Participants will visit members of Congress to discuss issues of interest to their community.

Costilla will be graduating from Temple College in May with an associate’s degree in biotechnology. While at Temple College, he has been a student worker at the Texas Biosciences Institute (TBI) and has done two summer internships at TBI.

After graduating from Temple College, Costilla hopes to pursue his education at Texas A&M University in College Station. He would like to earn a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in business. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he would like to work for a biomedical engineering company, a medical research lab, or a hospital. His ultimate goal is to start his own biotechnology company.

“My dream company would focus on designing medical equipment, laboratory equipment, and medicine to treat or even cure diseases,” he says. “I want to run a company that will eventually grow successful enough to help me provide employment and educational opportunities to low-income young adults like myself.”

Eventually, Costilla says, he may consider becoming a college or university instructor so he can inspire future engineers, scientists and leaders.