History in the Making

Hannah Fair, who was never married, was described as a “lady for the Lord” and devoted more than 40 years of her life as a missionary in China. Along with her brother and sister, who were also missionaries, the trio was arrested during World War II and spent time in Japanese prison camps. While in China, she inspired many young Chinese women to come to Texas to attend UMHB. After her death, the scholarship was established in 1970.

For George, whose aunt serves as a missionary in a dangerous part of the world, learning a bit about Miss Sallee was special.

“Being in China during World War II was a crazy time because it was very, very dangerous,” he said. “It is cool to learn about her and that she was helping people at that time. And now, the university is helping people, like me, in her name, which is very cool.”

Becoming a schoolteacher seemed to be in the cards for George, who has plans to teach high school history this fall. He comes from a family of educators—including a grandfather, aunts and uncles, and his parents. All of his dad’s siblings and one of his mom’s sisters came to UMHB, as well as his parents, George ’91 and Connie ‘93, who met here, and now work as educators in Brownsville.

He says his dad, who is a high school athletic director, is one of UMHB’s biggest fans and loves to promote his alma mater to his students, many of whom have come to UMHB. This is one of the reasons the Solis family was named the 2007 recipient of UMHB’s Parker Award, which is presented to families of multi-generational or multi-member alumni who demonstrate loyalty, support, and commitment to the university.

Despite being shut down during his sophomore year due to COVID-19, George said he had an amazing time at college playing intramurals and in the Gaming Club, serving on League Cru, and working in Bawcom Student Union. He also worked as a resident assistant, following in the footsteps of his dad, who also worked as an RA. He especially loved his last semester doing student teaching.

“I got to monitor tests, help with homework, lecture, give assignments, and help grade,” he said. “I loved it!”

If you’ve ever met George, you know he’s a “fast talker”—not in the “slickster” sense, but literally, he talks fast, and friends must be on their toes to keep up with him. He discovered during his student teaching that he had to train himself to slow his words down so students could understand what he was saying and keep up.

George is also a fast reader and test-taker, which proved to be an asset as a college student. When he was a child, he loved reading and described himself as the “biggest bookworm.” As a freshman in high school, he was clocked at reading more than 1,000 words per minute with a comprehension rate in the low 90s. (The average reading speed is 250 words per minute.) His speed reading proved useful for all those lengthy textbook chapters in college. His speediness also came in handy for test-taking, and he typically sped through exams in half the time or less as his peers.