Leadership and community drive engineering student’s success
Texas A&M’s Zachry Leadership Program (ZLP) helped electrical engineering student Savannah Giron grow as a person and leader through mentorship and collaboration.
When Savannah Giron first met with her Hullabaloo U peer mentor as a freshman at Texas A&M University, she noticed a sticker on their laptop that said “ZLP.” Giron, an electrical engineering major and Brown scholar, found out it stood for the Zachry Leadership Program. Her mentor, Grace Walzel ’24, shared that she was a part of the 2022-24 cohort, and told Giron all about the dynamic organization.
Savannah Giron, 2025-26 SEC President.
For Giron, it began a years-long journey of leadership and growth.
Learning to lead
By the spring of 2024, Giron had applied and joined the 2024-26 ZLP cohort. Throughout her time in the program, she was pushed out of her comfort zone. From being assigned to read books about leadership to weekly journalling, it prompted her to undertake deep introspection and gain an awareness of the needs and feelings of others.
“Learning what empathy is and how to apply it to other people was one of the most valuable things to me,” Giron said. “Being able to tailor your responses to each individual really helps you as a leader.”
As a senior in her final semester, ZLP’s two hours of class each week were a breath of fresh air for Giron. It gave her a scheduled time to set other duties aside and be present in the moment. In addition, she described the community formed in each ZLP cohort as second to none.
“You have 31 other people going through life alongside you with similarities and differences,” Giron said. “You get so much more out of the program because it is not an echo chamber.”
Giron credited her positive experience to the program staff, who have collectively led each cohort of students for 10 years. Seth Sullivan, program director; Maria Polyzoi, associate director; and Sheila Rivera, professor of practice, have provided instruction and mentorship to countless students like Giron. Reflection coaches from the Zachry Group — and program sponsor John Zachry — are also involved with each cohort.
“ZLP and the Zachry Group make an incredible investment in you as a student,” Giron said. “It gives you an even greater sense of community with people who are outside your group of peers and have a lot more experience than you.”
Practice makes perfect
While attending Texas A&M, Giron found ample opportunities to utilize the leadership principles from ZLP. As a member of the Student Engineers’ Council (SEC) since her sophomore year, she worked her way through the student organization as a co-coordinator, co-chair and president. Each ZLP semester brought her new ideas and growth that aligned with her roles in the SEC.
“Learning about self-awareness as I started in the SEC was helpful because I hadn’t worked in leadership on a large scale before,” Giron said. “It helped me become more receptive to feedback and work closely with so many people.”
She also grew in her self-confidence, enabling her to advocate for her ideas and be creative. Instead of sticking to one mindset, ZLP taught her that creativity extends to all aspects of life, not just the arts.
ZLP’s fourth leadership topic, “Purpose,” proved invaluable to Giron in her role as SEC president. Learning to think with a long-term vision and consider the final outcomes of leadership decisions directly translated to her duties.
“It really helped me in a role that is all about guiding people toward things that are 5-10 years down the line,” Giron said. “It’s almost like every semester perfectly came with my progression through college and through leadership.”
Lifelong impact
Giron highlighted a growth mindset and a values-oriented lifestyle as the most impactful outcomes of her time in ZLP. She went into the program thinking she had a lot figured out but learned that there is always more room for growth. Similarly, ZLP helped her determine her core values of service, growth, and compassion, which guide her decisions at Texas A&M and beyond.
“For freshmen, college is a big life change, and you start to have more responsibilities and are forced to consider the bigger picture,” Giron said. “The College of Engineering is a big place, and ZLP helped me navigate it. If you’re looking to make an impact and become more connected with who you are and what you want in college and life, ZLP is a great place to find that.”
