As ambassador, I think I can help students, but I want to especially help the Latino community. I feel I have a voice that is being heard, and I know how they feel because I have been in their position.
Daniela Reyes found courage in the home of the brave.
In July 2025, she left behind her family and friends in Mexico and came to Milwaukee Area Technical College, primed to further her career in nutrition and dietetics.
Reyes, who already held a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in Querétaro, Mexico, spent a year completing all the preparations to come to America.
Still, she fretted.
“It was a scary time. My English wasn’t that great, and it would be the first time I would be so far from my home and my parents for so long,” she recalled. “I felt like I was carrying the weight of expectations and the fear of the unknown. I was afraid that I would fail.”
She shouldn’t have worried. At MATC, Reyes has found success. She has a 3.85 GPA in the Nutrition and Dietetic Technician associate degree program, works in the Student Life office at the West Allis Campus, and was selected in late March to represent MATC as a state ambassador to the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS).
Ambassadors are chosen at each technical college based on academic excellence, professionalism and leadership qualities. The incoming ambassadors will attend a team-building and leadership development event April 14-16 in Wisconsin Dells, and also be celebrated at a formal banquet attended by family members, college leaders and other invited guests.
The students then serve as representatives of the WTCS at each campus for one year, working with fellow students and highlighting WTCS programs. MATC will formally recognize Reyes during the annual honors awards ceremony in May.
“I’m really looking forward to being the ambassador for MATC,” Reyes said. “As ambassador, I think I can help students, but I want to especially help the Latino community. I feel I have a voice that is being heard, and I know how they feel because I have been in their position.
“When I first got here, I was afraid: afraid of being misunderstood, of being too shy, that people would laugh at me. I was scared and I don’t think I was the only one,” she continued. “When I speak Spanish to students, I can see relief on their faces. And seeing that relief makes me glad because I know I’m helping.”
All about helping people
Reyes was born in Mexico City, the sprawling capital city of Mexico. She grew up in Querétaro, a city of 795,000 people about 130 miles northwest of Mexico City. She graduated high school in 2017 and enrolled in the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, the city’s largest public university, to study nutrition.
Reyes became interested in the field while watching her mother work with a nutritionist. “I saw firsthand how her health improved, how she had more energy, how her physical condition got better,” Reyes said. “I decided that was how I wanted to help people. Being a nutritionist is all I wanted to do.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in 2022 and started looking for a job to complete her compulsory social service. “I applied for 30 to 40 positions. Getting a job in Mexico is very competitive,” she said.
She eventually was hired at a hospital, where for a year she worked every Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., asking patients about their diets and working with doctors to coordinate what patients were fed each day.
“I was talking to 30 and 40 patients each day,” she said. “I absolutely fell in love with it.”
Furthering her educational journey
In 2024, she traveled to Milwaukee to visit relatives. She began to formulate a plan to return to America to earn a master’s degree in nutrition. First, she had to complete a two-year program to be admitted to graduate school.
Her family recommended MATC. She arrived in Milwaukee and, the next month, enrolled in the Nutrition and Dietetic Technician program, where students learn how the science of managing food and nutrition promotes good health.
“MATC was affordable, the website made it easy to apply and register for classes, and there were a lot of scheduling options,” she said. “The instructors here have been wonderful. They have been very patient. MATC has been a great experience.”
Rachel Hughes, an instructor in the Nutrition and Dietetic Technician program, wrote in a letter of recommendation that Reyes has an unwavering passion for helping others.
“One of Dani’s most notable strengths is her bilingual aptitude, which allows her to connect authentically with a diverse range of students and community members,” Hughes wrote. “Dani excels in building and maintaining professional relationships. She has a natural ability to create an inclusive and collaborative environment, a skill that is paramount for an ambassador.”
Reyes plans to complete her associate degree in the spring of 2027, then attend Mount Mary University. After completing her master’s degree, she will be eligible to take the national exam to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), a position that can earn up to $79,000 a year. She plans to stay in the United States and work as an RDN.
She thanked her parents for supporting her educational journey: “I’m here because of everything they have done for me,” she said.
In an essay she wrote as part of the ambassador application, she encouraged other students to set aside their fears and reach for their dreams.
“Sometimes the path can be more difficult and frightening than we imagine, but taking the decision to take your future into your own hands is one of the bravest actions there is,” Reyes wrote. “The world needs more human beings and leaders who aren’t afraid to try.
“Move forward with self-confidence, knowing that your hands and mind are the most valuable tools to do even more than you imagine. Dream big and dare to fail,” she added. “The future isn’t something you wait for, but something you create, and with courage, you have everything you need to make it brilliant.”
Read about MATC’s previous WTCS Student Ambassadors:
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 45 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.