Daniel Navarro serves his country and family

By: Max Reed

Daniel Navarro was in for a lot of change when he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, in 2014. Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, he experienced a big culture shock when his family moved to the United States. “I talked with everyone back home, but then suddenly my social life dropped off because I spoke zero English and had a pretty bad speech impediment.”

But this didn’t slow Navarro down at all when he began classes at middle school. “I just learned english on the fly, making new friends, talking between classes, listening to music and watching TV.” 

Navarro’s impediment came from his cleft palate, requiring numerous surgeries throughout his life which he just shrugs off. “I don’t see it as an impediment; I see it as one more obstacle to overcome.” 

Navarro’s overcoming spirit led him all the way to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the College of Business (COB), where he has been serving as an Ambassador. 

“Being a COB Ambassador changed my life; it has made me into truly a social butterfly,” he said. “I have made a lot of great connections with the staff and made invaluable friendships because of it.”

Navarro is also a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. He says this experience “has made me realize what real friendship is, and how a group of what might seem like random guys can turn into a family.” Doing community service and raising money for charity has “really expanded my college experience,” Navarro said. “I love all my brothers and LTH (love, truth, honor).”

One of the many obstacles Navarro has overcome is joining the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, which required another surgery on his cleft palate in August of 2022. Navarro was so used to these procedures that he was up and around after only one month of recovery. “I want to be an Army aviator,” Navarro says, “and ‘be all you can be’ as the Army slogan says.”

Navarro’s duties related to the Alabama National Guard split his time between classes in Huntsville and his unit in Birmingham. If that wasn’t enough in his schedule, he also takes care of his grandparents, his grandfather was Navarro's inspiration to join the Army. Most recently he helped them complete their taxes. When asked if his economics studies helped doing so, Navarro said, “no, this is the easy stuff. I’m academically motivated in economics, to see how money makes the world go ‘round.” 

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