Research Rookies Student Profiles

Name: Roberto Gonzalez

Cohort: Freshman Research Rookie

Major: Psychology

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Julie Crouch

Roberto Gonzalez is the perfect example of turning passion into action. With his upbeat attitude and enthusiasm, it is sometimes hard to believe that he is studying a topic as heavy as sex trafficking. But, it is the gravity of the issue that makes him so motivated and passionate.

Roberto is currently a Psychology major, but intends to change his major to Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology. He would love to be a Forensic psychologist, working to better understand the criminal mind, and maybe even work for the International Justice Mission to help fight against sex trafficking.

His passion for the issue developed his junior year of high school, after giving a presentation on it in his English class. He and his classmates were so inspired that Roberto started H.O.P.E. (Helping Oppressed People Escape) as an anti-trafficking awareness group at his high school. His senior year, his organization even raised enough money to save seven women from sex-trafficking, and Roberto has been inspired to work against sex-trafficking ever since. 

For his current research project, Roberto is trying to find the correlation between people's awareness of sex-trafficking and their willingness to fight against it. To find this correlation, Roberto will have all participants complete a survey that assesses their knowledge of sex-trafficking. Following the students’ participation, they will have the option to essentially win a prize for themselves, or donate money to the prevention of sex-trafficking. Roberto’s theory is that the more people know about the severity of sex-trafficking, the more they will be willing to donate to help end it.

This Research Rookies experience has connected Roberto with a mentor whom he greatly admires, created many opportunities for him in the future, and allowed him to continue following his passion. Roberto’s attitude is best summed up by his closing remarks about his project. “Although I'm not doing anything ground-breaking, this project will start a revolution. I'm hoping people do not become aware of me, but rather the issue, so that more people become aware enough to change it.”

Roberto on what being a Research Rookie means: “Being a Research Rookie means that I, the only Latino male in the freshman pool, separate and elevate myself.  It means that I have proven the stereotypes of Latinos to be false, and I stand proudly in the midst of depravity to say 'I will make a difference.'”