#TRINITYGRAD25: Trinity student Luis Sanchez-Blanco named 2025 UTAA Scholar

By Jennifer Matthews

Trinity College student Luis Sanchez-Blanco is having mixed feelings about his upcoming graduation. “It’s a bit scary to be done. I feel like I haven’t quite come to terms with that yet,” Sanchez-Blanco says. “But at the end of the day, I want to keep seeking out new challenges and apply the self-confidence I found here everywhere I go.”

Sanchez-Blanco, who will graduate in June with a double major in Political Science and History, recently learned he has been named a 2025 University of Toronto Alumni Association (UTAA) Scholar. The prestigious Awards of Excellence accolade recognizes academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement.

“This award is an honour and a recognition of the work I’ve put into my studies over the past four years. It’s also an acknowledgement of the inclusive spaces I’ve been working to create, and about the encouragement and motivation I’ve received from the people around me,” he says.

Community leader

His list of campus involvements is long and varied: leader in the International Issues Discussion series, a student-led forum on contemporary global affairs co-hosted with Toronto Metropolitan University; staff writer for Trinity Times; co-host of El CafeciTO, the student-run podcast of U of T’s Latin American Studies program; playwright (winning two awards), and director and co-producer of the Trinity College Dramatic Society’s production of Grease [photo below: right]; and goalie on Trinity’s D2 soccer team [photo below: left]. “My work-study experience as a campus tour guide during fourth year was the cherry on top,” Sanchez-Blanco adds. “Trinity’s Associate Registrar Jerome Chang was an incredible mentor, and the whole team in Student Services is so supportive.”

Trinity experience

Sanchez-Blanco says he was drawn to Trinity for its tight-knit community. “I’m a commuter student, and I need community to thrive. Trinity was so welcoming.”

The Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program alum says choosing the program was one of the best decisions he ever made: “It taught me to think better. I met some of my closest friends there. And learning from professors including Joy Fitzgibbon and Arne Kislenko was invaluable – they continue to be mentors for me today.”

For current students, he offers this advice: “Obviously, do your work and take school seriously, but the real growth comes from everything else. Try new things — join a club, play sports, run for student office, apply for that summer abroad. Those are the things that actually change your life. You won’t always have this many chances to explore so many sides of yourself in one place. So take the shot. Say yes to stuff. You’ll figure it out as you go.”

Heading to Ottawa

Next up for Sanchez-Blanco: Pursing a master’s degree in international affairs and intelligence at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University this September. And he is well-prepared — internships abroad with NATO and in Ottawa with the federal government have helped fine-tune his post-graduate interests in Arctic security, Canada’s defense agreements, military equipment procurement, and Canadian intelligence services. “I’m excited to keep doing what I’ve been doing at Trinity at grad school — trying new opportunities and taking leadership roles,” he says. “Outside of school, I’ll be looking to get involved with the Ottawa theatre scene, play soccer…all the things that make me happy.”

Photo: (left) Luis Sanchez-Blanco in goal for Trinity’s d2 Soccer Team; and (right) Promotional photo with the cast and director (Luis) of Grease (Trinity College Dramatic Society’s production). Photos by Joshua Romanick

Categories: Awards & Honours; Student News; Trinity Grads; Trinity One