
“All the credit goes to my mom,” Michael Guanoluisa says, explaining how he first got started at Horizons GFA. “I was in kindergarten or first grade, and she kept pushing me to go.” At first he felt out of his comfort zone, dealing with separation anxiety and adjusting to a new environment. His older brother Bryan offered his reassuring presence. “Then I started making friends and things started falling into place,” Michael smiles, adding “By first grade, swimming and other activities helped me keep my motivation.”
Michael grew up in Bridgeport but attended Coleytown Elementary in Westport through the Open Choice Program (credit for that also goes to his mom). “The resources the school offered from the beginning were a huge help,” he acknowledges. Being part of Horizons GFA also had a big impact.
In particular, he remembers his daily interactions with the student volunteers and counselors. “They were sort of the middle ground between the teachers and students. Each year there were different personalities leading to different connections,” he says. Thinking back to some of his most important summer program experiences, he first highlights the World Peace Games. “It was a huge event that we looked forward to at the end of each summer,” he explains. “It really united everyone. Kids from different grades and classes were all rooting for each other. We learned a lot about teamwork and about the countries we represented. It was also just a really fun time to be creative and have fun!”
“Swimming and rowing were new to a lot of us students,” he continues. “In addition to developing skills outside the classroom, they taught us the importance of improving ourselves.” Moving from swimming in shallow water to diving in the deep end was a huge milestone, he notes. Along with the achievement came a new sense of self-confidence.
The final highlight of the PreK–8 Program was the eighth grade graduation ceremony and the last day of the summer. “Both were pretty emotional,” he says. “I’d created so many friendships with so many unique people, it was hard to say goodbye. I’ll always remember our closing picnic and celebration.”

In high school, Michael received the opportunity to attend the Island School in the Bahamas through Horizons GFA. In describing the life-changing experience, Michael explains, “The island school exposed me to a new learning environment that focused a lot on sustainability and the importance of bettering our environment.”
When it came time to apply to colleges, there was no doubt he would be going. “My mom always had that template for me,” he states, “but Horizons kept that idea repeating in my head.” Again, the Horizons student counselors played their part. “Cole Rummelsberg, one of my counselors, always talked about school and his dream of working at ESPN someday. Those conversations were inspiring for me,” Michael says.

After considering Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Southern Connecticut State University, he chose UCONN, partly for financial reasons but also because the Stamford campus felt like a good fit in terms of location (closer to home) and lifestyle. Although he had planned on staying in Stamford all four years, he applied to Storrs going into his junior year after learning that the deadline for the sports management program was fast approaching. “Before I knew it, I was accepted and moving to Storrs,” he recalls.
“I had always had sports management in the back of my head, along with an interest in marketing,” Michael explains (not surprising to anyone who remembers his love for basketball during the summer program). A trip to Ecuador with his mom, who hadn’t been back to visit her home and family in 30 years, solidified the pull toward marketing. “My uncle creates ads and signs—it’s what businesses rely on there—and he helped me see a different perspective,” he notes.
Michael, who had always been creative and enjoyed coming up with product designs, saw a new path on the horizon. His mom earned a business degree in Ecuador but was never able to use the degree here in the U.S. His brother, who earned a degree in business administration from Ithaca College, manages two Vietnamese restaurants in Fairfield County.
Now, with one year left, Michael is poised to graduate next May. He credits two internship experiences with helping him gain valuable experience and develop a career path. The first is the Husky Sport Program, a program that teaches kids how to develop life skills and nutrition through sports, that he was introduced to in his class with Justin Evanovich. He started as a volunteer with the program the first semester of his junior year and then interned for the second semester (he plans on interning during his senior year as well). Every weekday during the school year he rides to Hartford, where he coordinates recess activities (four square, dodgeball, etc.) for a drop-in playground and basketball program for K-5 students at Wish School, helping them develop skills and team building. “The kids only get recess once a week, so it’s important to make the most of the time,” he says. “Connecting with the kids and serving as their role model brings back a lot of Horizons memories for me,” he adds.
A second internship with UCONN Athletics marketing department is helping him learn the ropes of college level marketing, and he hopes to stay on in a permanent position after graduation. He is currently involved with women’s sports—soccer, volleyball, and basketball. “It’s been really fun so far,” he notes, describing the “time-out activities” (like give-aways, music, and promotional ideas) he’s been able to test out. “Both men’s and women’s sports at UCONN are doing amazingly well right now, so it’s been an exciting time to be involved and given me great experience.” Being part of the Sports Business Club has also been extremely helpful in shaping his career journey, providing opportunities to look at college vs. professional sports management.
“A real key to success for many college students, and most certainly something that Michael has excelled in since I met him over a year ago, is the discipline and ability to consistently ‘show up.’ “
— Justin Evanovich, Michael’s Professor and Internship Supervisor
Justin Evanovich, Michael’s professor and internship supervisor, has had the opportunity to watch his growth and development as a student and intern firsthand. He shares: “A real key to success for many college students, and most certainly something that Michael has excelled in since I met him over a year ago, is the discipline and ability to consistently ‘show up.’ Michael never missed a day of class. In the class, we had multiple written assignments (typically 10-page papers). Michael came for additional meetings to ensure he understood the assignment and collected feedback, and then invested the time to continue growing as a writer and person working to make sense of our larger world.”
He continues, “Our class works as part of a larger campus-community partnership (www.huskysport.uconn.edu). There are opportunities to ride in a van from UConn and to engage with kids and partners in sports, games, healthy snacks, and more, working with the same elementary school and out-of-school partners in the North End of Hartford. Michael signed up early and often for these van shifts—in fact, he completed the most hours of any of the 1,000+ UConn students that have enrolled in the course!” In spite of the time commitment, Michael holds other jobs on campus as well (with UConn dining services, UConn athletics, and more). “Working with Michael is a kind reminder of the many cool and talented people out there in this world,” Evanovich affirms.

Michael is also still involved in the Horizons College and Career Success program, participating in the monthly check-ins and participating in career launch events. Suzanne Barnett, Manager of College and Career Success, notes that because Michael knows that job interviews are in his immediate future, he reached out to be connected to HGFA Advisory Board members for help with his interview skills. “The College Program has aided me in sharpening my interview skills with mock interviews and feedback on writing assignments,” he shares.
Michael, like so many of our Horizons graduates, possesses the ability to work independently and collaboratively and the passion and determination to keep growing—important traits nurtured at Horizons that will set him apart when he enters the work world. Most importantly, as his mentor points out, he understands the importance of showing up.