Big changes led to bigger breakthroughs for ASU grad
Daniel Beaupre is Edson College’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student. He’s earning a Bachelor of Science in community health this May. Photo by Louis Tortora/ASU Health
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2026 graduates.
Focus, flexibility and fortitude are all things that describe Daniel Beaupre’s career as a gymnast competing at a high level. It turns out, those skills would serve him well as he navigated his academic career, too.
The 22-year-old is graduating this May from Arizona State University’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation with a Bachelor of Science in community health. He has also earned the college’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student recognition.
“It's a huge honor. It’s hard to believe because even graduating from college, I never thought it would be possible. Graduating with honors, a 3.8 GPA is beyond. To be chosen is shocking,” Beaupre said.
Shocking to him, but well earned. Beaupre received the ASU New American University Dean’s Scholarship, which is a merit-based scholarship, for all four years. As his college experience unfolded, his adaptability was on full display.
He moved from Andover, Minnesota, to Arizona at 18 to attend ASU for nursing. He planned to keep competing with the Arizona Men's Gymnastics Team, a club program, while pursuing his degree. So when he didn’t get the test score he needed to get into the upper-division nursing program, at first he didn’t know what to do.
“My whole plan was to become a nurse. It was very devastating, but then I realized it was an opportunity to reevaluate my life and what I actually wanted as an adult,” he said.
That self-reflection led him to another difficult decision — retiring from gymnastics — to continue making space for growth and new opportunities.
In the midst of this major life shakeup, Beaupre refocused and committed to earning a different bachelor’s degree from Edson College, one in community health. That choice opened up a whole world of possibilities and led him to discover a passion to help others be heard and seen.
He also found out he was pretty good at making content for himself and others. In addition to growing his own social media presence, Beaupre is the social media manager for the Phoenix Dignity Project, a local nonprofit. Through that work, he’s able to highlight the organization's community events, the services they provide, and share the needs of the group so they can continue helping as many people as possible.
Here, he shares more about his college journey.
Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
Answer: My “aha” moment came while volunteering with my nonprofit, Phoenix Dignity Project. I met a mother who was experiencing housing and food insecurity while also supporting her son through the justice system. She was living in an unsafe environment surrounded by drugs and violence, but continued to show up each week.
Over time, I watched her situation begin to improve. One week, she became emotional, hugged me and thanked me for simply listening. She told me that I had become something she looked forward to each week, and that being heard made a difference in her life.
That moment showed me how powerful empathy and community can be. It made me realize I want to advocate for individuals experiencing homelessness and support people of all different minority groups. This is when I fell in love with community health.
Q: Why did you choose ASU?
A: I chose ASU because, growing up in a small town in Minnesota, I felt like I never fit in and couldn’t fully express my true personality. I knew I needed to leave my hometown to grow into myself and become more independent. I was also drawn to the West because of its diversity and openness. I craved a sense of freedom and wanted to find a community of people who understood me, my goals and my vision for my life. ASU felt like a place where I could be openly gay, feel accepted and truly belong.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?
A: Take every opportunity you can. Try everything at least once, even if it doesn’t seem exciting at first. Every experience in college teaches you something and helps shape who you are. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. The more you face your fears, the more confident you become.
Most importantly, be yourself. You don’t need to fit in, but be happy being yourself. People may look perfect from the outside, especially online, but everyone carries things you don’t see. The right people will accept you for who you are, not who they want you to be. Real friends will show up for you, support you and value you for who you are, not what you have.
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