Jose Armando lived in Arkansas for 15 years representing his community as he strived in contributing for a better community. It is though his efforts and partnerships with different organizations that made that vision possible, leaving an impact for the generations to come. 

MARIA INES

His biggest motivator, the little sister, the person who would always be with Jose Armando, Maria Ines. Maria Ines has epilepsy and a learning disability, which Jose always looks after her ever since her diagnosis when she was six months old. 

Jose would take Maria to school every single day for the past decade and always responded when something goes on. Through her, Jose learned the importance of advocating for the disability community as he help contribute to Arkansas Children's Hospital, CRIT USA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and many others. Jose also expanded his advocacy for learning disabilities on college campuses. 

HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION

Jose started his high school education in Clarendon, Arkansas (Clarendon High School) where in his freshman year, he got to serve as Class Secretary and Class Representative to Student Council to which that becomes his first move in being there for the community. Jose launched several initiatives in his year before leaving, including a Green Clarendon and Miss River Rat pageant. Jose was part of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, Art Club, and in previous years, he was in the high school band doing trumpet and a linemen in his football team.

Jose in his sophomore year, transferred  to Stuttgart High School where he got to be more involved in things like Future Business Leaders of America, DECA, LEO, INTERACT, Art Club, and also Science Club. He got to serve as DECA's Chapter Secretary, where his career with DECA will begin off.

As a junior, Jose became way more active where he ran for state and regional offices, and his presence was more known in Stuttgart. He got to serve in student council as a representative, which was not the best experience for him, but learned a lesson -- to keep going, even if people don't want to work with you. At that same time, the world was experiencing COVID and its uncertainty. The first things he did is ensuring the clubs and activities are still hanging out there, demonstrating progress later on, including the time when he graduates.

His senior year, was a lot with applications to colleges, the amount of work he was getting into, and also his high school life. At the end, Jose managed to graduate sixth in his class out of 110 and broken so many records in Stuttgart. Jose launched an initiative in having extracurricular activities go on, well after he was gone as his pushed in having more officers run for state and district offices and keeping that presence. He also opened another extracurricular focusing in STEM, the Technology Student Association. On the state level, Jose and the rest of his DECA team doubled the amount of chapters in the state and also increased hundreds of new members through his IMPACTO Plan, focusing in rebuilding DECA. Even after leaving, Jose left an impact that can be seen, as they were on the verge of disappearing due to COVID. 

COLLEGE LIFE AT TUFTS

At first, Jose Armando never really intended to study more than 1,200 miles away from home. As high school came to an end, he expected to attend Arkansas Tech University or Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, choices that would allow him to remain close to his family and avoid placing a large financial burden on his parents. That changed when he received the opportunity to attend Tufts University on a full ride. Without fully realizing it at the time, Jose had also applied through the binding Early Decision I program. What initially felt like an accident would later become what he calls one of the best "mistakes" of his life. At 18, he became the first in his family to attend college in the United States. 

Leaving Arkansas was exciting, but it was also frightening. Jose had spent most of his life surrounded by his parents, siblings, and the communities that had shaped him. Suddenly, he was beginning college in Massachusetts in an environment that felt completely different from rural Arkansas. Before beginning his first semester, he was invited into the BEST Scholars Program, which helped introduce him to Tufts and engineering. Even with that support, the transition came with culture shock, homesickness, and the challenge of learning how to build a new community so far away from home.

When Jose arrived at Tufts, Biomedical Engineering was not necessarily the future he had imagined for himself. He originally pictured studying Computer Science while completing the pre-med track, combining technology with his desire to work in healthcare. One of the moments that changed his direction came in introductory physics. Having received very little exposure to physics before college, Jose earned a 6% on his first physics midterm. At the time, it felt like evidence that physics simply was not for him. Instead, it became the beginning of an unexpected relationship with the subject.

As Jose continued through Biomedical Engineering, the same physics that had once intimidated him slowly became one of the areas that fascinated him most. Through courses and research, he began working with optical imaging, microscopy, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy, or fNIRS. He discovered biophysics through biophotonics, where light can be used to measure and understand biological systems. The student who once struggled through introductory physics eventually found himself becoming interested in optics and the ways light could allow scientists to study the human body without invasive procedures.

That interest became increasingly connected to the brain. Through his experiences with fNIRS, microscopy, and biomedical imaging, Jose developed a growing interest in neurophotonics and the study of brain function using light. His long-term hope is to explore how non-invasive optical technologies can contribute to understanding conditions such as epilepsy and stroke. For Jose, this interest brings together engineering and physics with questions that are deeply connected to his family and the experiences that first motivated him to enter biomedical engineering.

College, however, became about much more than academics. Jose continued his involvement in advocacy as the Administration and Policy Chair within the Tufts Community Union Senate, particularly around accessibility and the experiences of students with disabilities. He also spent two years as President of the Catholic Community at Tufts, where faith, service, and community became an important part of his life away from home. Through the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, he worked with younger students and communities through STEM education, while his experiences as a Teaching Assistant allowed him to discover another passion in teaching and helping other students navigate subjects that he once found difficult himself.

By the time Jose completed his undergraduate career in 2026, the nervous student who had once wondered whether leaving Arkansas was the right decision had built a life at Tufts centered around engineering, education, faith, accessibility, and research. His contributions to the university community were recognized when he was inducted into the Honos Civicus Society in 2026, an honor recognizing graduating students for their commitment to civic engagement and service. More importantly, college helped Jose discover the direction he wanted his life to take. A 6% physics exam that once seemed like a failure had eventually helped lead him toward biophotonics, neurophotonics, and the possibility of using light to better understand the brain.