A student from the Bronx has been named the undergraduate valediction at Manhattan College this year.

Miguel Diaz-Lopez grew up in the South Bronx, and this time last year News 12 talked to him after he was awarded a prestigious STEM scholarship.

Diaz-Lopez, who majored in mechanical engineering with a minor in physics, was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship last year.

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“The scholarship was honestly great because it helped out a lot in terms of finances,” says Diaz-Lopez.

He says he was getting ready to head to Germany to work on research and sneak in some travel.

Now his new milestone is being named the undergraduate valedictorian for the class of 2020.

GPA played a role, but he also had to write a speech.

“I basically wrote about my transition from being pretty much exclusively a musician for like 12 years of my life to then transitioning over to engineering, and also being a first generation student in my family,” Diaz-Lopez.

Diaz-Lopez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx and can't wait to truly celebrate this achievement with his family.

“I am so happy that Manhattan College is just postponing it instead of just making it virtual because that is really important for first generation families, where like they have never been able to experience a college graduation,” says Diaz-Lopez.

He will be soon be starting in the PhD program in mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

“Pretty much anything in aerospace I would love to work in,” says Diaz-Lopez.