Dane Salazar, 21, is not your average Saint Louis University student. Double majoring in biology and economics, Salazar juggles a family with school, extracurricular activities and a job.

Salazar finds that it is a privilege to raise a family. His family consists of his wife, Melanie Garcia Salazar, and his two-year-old son, Javier Ernesto Issac Salazar.

With this privilege comes a lot of responsibility. Salazar notes especially the financial responsibility of day-care.

“Here at SLU I have felt that this aspect has been ignored,” Salazar said. “It is not a typical undergraduate position [to have a child]. I wanted to work on that while I was here. [I] wanted to research the day-care needs of not only students but also faculty and staff. The need for this data was hastened by Childgarden [school] leaving,” Salazar said.

Salazar found himself in a position to make a difference at SLU. He has been one of the International Student Federation senators in the Student Government Association for the last two years. Salazar sat on the finance committee both years.

“With the finance committee I witnessed the inadequacies of the funding process first hand. Over the summer I found the need to make the process more equitable and efficient. I designed a budget template that we decided to implement this year. It is an Excel file that all charter student organizations are going to use this year,” Salazar said.

In addition to SGA, Salazar is an active member of the Latin American and Caribbean Coalition and the International Student Federation. Salazar is also a member of the Economics club.

When asked why he decided to become both an economics and biology major Salazar said, “I have aspirations to go on to Medical School. I wanted to diversify myself as an individual and not limit myself to applied sciences. I wanted to make myself more worldly.”

Salazar, in addition to raising a family and going to school, works part-time at Ralston Purina Co. He has served as a financial analyst in the International Department for the last three years.

“The work is very demanding, but also very rewarding,” Salazar said.

Being born on a military base, Salazar had to choose between citizenship in the U.S. and Mexico. Salazar chose to be an American citizen.

Salazar speaks three languages: Spanish, English and German, having lived in Germany for eight years when he was growing up.

Salazar now commutes from Illinois everyday for school. He enjoys St. Louis but plans to move after graduation. Salazar is looking for a city that has more Spanish speakers, such as Chicago, Miami and Denver.

Salazar is finding his time at SLU very rewarding. With only one year left he has pledged a commitment to SLU.

“I never intended to come to SLU and become a student leader,” Salazar said. “I saw an opportunity to promote other cultures and diverse ways of thinking through organizations like the International Student Federation and the Latin American and Caribbean Coalition. With the increase in globalization in today’s world, being a diverse person has become a huge asset. The people at SLU have been very open and easy to work with. I have been able to learn a lot from everyone I have worked with.”