In 2021, Alvaro Olivar-Fernandez made the trek across the Atlantic from Madrid, Spain, all the way to Yankton to play soccer for Mount Marty University.
He’s now graduated with a degree in business administration, has an internship with the City of Yankton under his belt and has worked in the finance department at the city for the past year.
Olivar-Fernandez will be heading back to Madrid as soon as his visa is expiring, but he’s taking with him several great memories from his time in Yankton.
The Spaniard participated in a soccer showcase in Mexico earlier in 2021, and that’s where he met a soccer coach from Mount Marty University.
“We made contact and Yankton seemed appealing to me,” he told the Press & Dakotan. “I also had another teammate from Spain who was coming with me, so we made it over here. He ended up leaving early, but that’s when it all started for me.”
Olivar-Fernandez said he’s grateful for the opportunity that his soccer skills gave him.
“I’ve been playing soccer since very young age, and it’s been great as far as giving me other opportunities by coming to college in the United States,” he said.
As a new arrival, and in keeping with tradition of most 18-year-olds, Olivar-Fernandez wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after high school.
“I went with what I thought I was better at — business administration,” he said. “I chose the concentration of banking and finance, and it’s been through professors like Charlie Gross, like Dave Spencer and Terry Stull, that have kind of made me want to pursue a career in this area.”
It was Gross who first lined him up with an internship at the City.
“Alvaro’s a really good student,” Gross said. “More than that, though, when he got ready to do his internship, I went downtown, talked to City Hall and they had an opening for him. He did so well during his internship that they hired him. That speaks volumes, to me, about his work.”
Olivar-Fernandez reflected on his first internship when he was assigned an assortment of projects.
“I started my first internship in the summer of 2024,” he said. “It was a great summer. I had the opportunity to do a little bit of everything the city does. I then came back as an intern the following January (he had to play soccer that fall) and that was similar to the first internship.
“I worked a lot more with finance with Lisa (Yardley) being my leader. Then, toward the end of that internship, the opportunity came up to stay as a full-time employee, and it’s been great.”
It’s worked out for Yardley and the Finance Department, as well, especially when it came to a huge utility software conversion.
“Alvaro was a really good fit,” she told the Press & Dakotan. “He did a lot of cleanup stuff for the finance office, and the utilities account specialist position came open. I encouraged him to apply with our office, and it worked out really well.
“I got to give him a lot of credit, because 2025 was not easy for our office, because we did a huge utility management conversion. We hadn’t updated our software in over 30 years on our side. Alvaro did very well — learning the old software in six months, and then right away, turned around and learned the new software. He has brought a lot of value to our office and helping our community.”
Olivar-Fernandez would have liked to stay a little longer, as he has grown fond of the community.
“It’s obviously sad to have to say goodbye, mainly because of the relationships, all the people I’ve met and everything about Yankton,” he said. “But I’m also excited to see family again, too, and just look at other opportunities over there. I definitely would like to come back, though. Maybe 2-3 years down the line, I’d certainly consider that an option.”
Considering that he came here from a city with a population over 3.5 million, what other aspects of Yankton did Olivar-Fernandez enjoy?
“I like how peaceful it is compared to where I come from,” he said. “It’s a lot less noisy. For how small of a community it is, it’s been very welcoming, and I’ve always felt well-treated in the community. I’ve met numerous people and I will keep contact with those who have become very important to me. And that’s a lot of people.”
He also said he’s going to miss his co-workers.
“We’ve built quite the team over the last year,” he said. “All of them have been great to me. They’ve helped me improve in my job and in other areas, too. We have a great bond and a great relationship.
“I’m very thankful to the people here at the City and everybody else that helped make my experience in Yankton as great as it has been,” he said.
Yardley said the finance department will miss his presence.
“He’s such a well-rounded young kid, so we’re really going to miss him,” she said. “The City Commission did allow us to try to apply and start the H1b visa process. We put in for the lottery, and he just wasn’t selected. That tied our hands with moving to that next step.
“He’s more than welcome to come back to the City of Yankton. We did understand at that time, a year ago, when we hired him, we may only have him for a year. Internally, we thought, ‘Hey, let’s take our chance.’ I think it was well worth it. I could say that I’ve learned a lot from him as well. One thing I kind of learned from him is to find the humor in everything and that things will probably work out.”
His professor laments the rules that are forcing Olivar-Fernandez back to Spain.
“I’m disappointed that we can’t find a way to keep him in this country,” Gross said. “It’s just unfortunate. He’s a great kid who is doing so well and helping our community. Alvaro was even my dog walker. When I was out of town, he had a key to the house and always found time to get away at lunchtime to walk my dog. He’s just a special person.”