The tale of an interstellar love affair Aerospace Engineering major makes his childhood fascination a way of life

The Center for Academic Success buzzes with chatter from students, staff and tutors. Through the commotion, the voice of Stavros Diamantopoulos resonates with commanding presence. Without faltering, he answers a multitude of questions that vary from physics to astronomy.

Diamantopoulos, 29, is a junior at Pierce College, majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in astronautics. He will be transferring to Cal Polytechnics San Luis Obispo in Spring 2016.

As a child, Diamantopoulos fostered a deep curiosity for celestial bodies and space exploration. It did not take long before he knew he wanted to study these subjects after graduating from high school.

He spent his youth roaming the streets of Nikaia, Attiki, in Greece. This suburb on the fringes of Athens was the extent of Diamantopoulos’s world until he came to the United States in December 2012.

This decision to leave home was driven by his desire to pursue a higher-level education. He believed it was the best choice due to the country’s extensive background in space exploration.

like space exploration,” laughed Diamantopoulos.

Diamantopoulos credits his mother with pushing him to enroll in college.

visa status as an international student, Diamantopoulos must take 12 units every semester.

every semester, along with the astronomy courses, I have more than a thousand students that are under my advice.” would be best in doing tutoring, and since he did fantastically well in the classes themselves I recommended him,” said Fields. something that is not as common in someone.”

As the head STEM tutor, Diamantopoulos attends monthly seminars to train new tutors and show them how to manage different students.

“Together, with the other lead tutors of other subjects, [we] are responsible to have these training sessions to pass our knowledge to the new tutors,” Diamantopoulos said.

Diamantopoulos admits that he takes his job seriously because it’s not a subject where you can joke about and have fun.

“These opportunities were not available in Greece with the economy crisis after 2009 and 2010, the country faced financial cuts and I don’t think they would have been interested in something

In conjunction with his role as a full-time student, Diamantopoulos is the primary astronomy tutor, the official physics tutor, the head Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) tutor.

“My mother was the one that pushed me since I was a kid to focus more on my education, because that would be the way I could change my life,” Diamantopoulos said. “She was my biggest influence.”

To stay in accordance with his

“If you take the Pierce catalog and count down the physics courses, I tutor all of them,” Diamantopoulos said. “So