Daisy and Elsie Flores
Urban Education, Early Child-6, Bilingual Education
College of Public Service
Sisters Daisy and Elsie Flores are both graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Education with a focus on Bilingual Education in Early Childhood through 6th grade. Raised in New York and Houston, their shared educational journey was fueled by a desire to work with children and to create a classroom environment in which their students feel cared for, supported, and understood.
Elsie, who enrolled at UHD as a freshman, encouraged her older sister, Daisy, who already held a bachelor’s degree in culinary management, to join her. Both sisters are fluent in Spanish, learned at home, which they say prepared them to effectively teach the curriculum required in a bilingual setting. Throughout their time at UHD Northwest, the Flores sisters served in member and leadership positions of several student organizations, Daisy as President of the Bilingual Education Student Organization (BESO) and President of the Be a Teacher Club Northwest, while Elsie served as Vice President of BESO and President of the Northwest Gators. They credit those experiences, along with the mentorship of their professors, with the confidence and professionalism they now possess every time they enter the classroom.
The sisters have two brothers in a close family that includes their parents, nephews, in-laws, as well as their pets. Daisy is the proud mother of a golden doodle named Babe, while Babe’s brother, Lou, is owned by Elsie. Elsie has two other dogs, Kylo and Benny.
Currently, both Daisy and Elsie work as student-teachers in bilingual classrooms—Daisy in second grade and Elsie in third grade—at the same school in Cy-Fair ISD. Following graduation, they plan to stay put, though they hope to find upper-level elementary (second grade and up) positions, in which they can continue to use their leadership skills and passion for helping children.
Note: Pictured left to right, Daisy Flores and Elsie Flores
Gianna Testut
Bachelor of Science, Psychology
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Gianna Testut, a mother of two, wife, and Marine Corps veteran, is the personification of Gator grit. During the COVID-19 pandemic she contracted the virus, which triggered the development of a rare eye disease, Acute Posterior Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy, which led to near total blindness for eight months. That experience, combined with a long-held interest in the workings of the human mind, inspired her to return to school and finish her degree.
During her two years at UHD, Testut made frequent appearances on the Dean’s List, an achievement she says is due in part due to the supportive faculty with whom she worked, most notably Dr. Katrina Ruffino, Professor of Psychology, in whose class Testut was able to study early childhood discipline and how it impacts a child’s development.
That course, along with several others, has helped Testut narrow her academic focus to the biological operation of the brain, a focus she will pursue following graduation, as she plans to enroll in an accelerated nursing program followed by a master’s program, all with the goal of becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
Outside of school, Testut spends her free time exploring East Asian art and culture, a passion she developed while stationed in Japan, as well as rescuing pit bulls that have had difficulty finding a home.
Beginning her time at UHD as a nervous, unsure student, she says she now feels like a new person, filled with well-deserved and hard-earned confidence, both in herself and her ability to pursue and achieve her goals.