Honors College student juggles biomedical engineering classes with cheerleading.
(Aug. 16, 2017) -- Meet Mikayla Rahman. This UTSA Honors College student is balancing life as a biomedical engineering major and UTSA cheerleader.
Rahman was born in China and was adopted when she was 13 months old. That’s when she moved to Colorado Springs to live with her new family. Rahman lived in Colorado for most of her life, but she knew she wanted to go to college out of state.
During her search for universities, there were two requirements that she wanted in her potential school: a well-known biomedical engineering program and an established cheer program. She learned that UTSA had both.
“I had a great experience during my visit. I fell in love with the campus and the culture of the city,” said Rahman. “I knew right away that UTSA was the place for me.”
Rahman joined the UTSA Honors College in Fall 2016 and had a full plate from the beginning. As a freshman, she took 17 credit hours, attended cheer practice every day and was at football games almost every weekend.
“Being a cheerleader and in the biomedical engineering program can be stressful, but even though it’s challenging, engineering is my passion,” said Rahman. “At the same time, cheer is an outlet for me and I enjoy it because it keeps me connected to campus.”
Rahman’s busy schedule doesn’t stop there. She is also involved with organizations on campus, such as UTSA VOICES, Society for Women in Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Club.
Rahman is grateful for all the help and support she has received as a member of the Honors College.
“My advisor has truly been there for me every step of the way to navigate my degree and academic plan,” said Rahman. “My professors have been great as well. They make sure that students get the most out of their classes and offer support when needed.”
Based on her experiences, Rahman encourages future Roadrunners to invest in the UTSA Honors College.
“I would tell them to go for it. When you join the Honors College, you find a new community of people at UTSA who share the same mindset and interests as you,” said Rahman. “They are focused on academics and accomplishing their ultimate goal.”
When Rahman graduates, she hopes to develop prosthetics that help children and wounded warriors in the military. Growing up less than 20 minutes from the Air Force Academy, the UTSA sophomore has always been inspired by the selflessness of military families and wants to help those heroes who need it.
“Seeing and hearing so many stories about military families and knowing how they give so much for us, I would love to be able to give something back to them one day using my degree from UTSA,” Rahman said.
Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.
Learn more about the UTSA Honors College.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Graduate school fair for current undergraduates and anyone in the community that has their bachelor's degree and is interested in learning about UTSA's graduate programs.
Retama Galleria (SU 02.02.02,) Student Union, Main CampusUTS Bold Careers hosts Student Technology Council where students have the opportunity to share feedback about technology needs to the UTS Leadership. The Leadership will also provide updates as to the technolgy projects for the campus.
Mesquite Room (SU 2.01.24,) Student Union, Main CampusJoin us for a hands-on workshop about the basics of copyright, both in education and as a researcher. We’ll dispel some common copyright myths, differences between copyright law and other intellectual property law, and teach you how to apply a Fair Use checklist to your scholarly work.
Virtual Event (Zoom)In this workshop, we will explore sentiment analysis, a method for identifying feelings in text, whether the tone is positive, negative, or neutral.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryLearn to use the simple but powerful features of EndNote®, a citation management tool. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography.
Virtual Event ( Zoom)The Urban Bird Project at UTSA will discuss urban bird populations, conservation efforts, and how you can get involved.
JPL Assembly Room (4.04.22,) Main CampusThe DMPTool is a free online resource that helps researchers create data management plans. This workshop will cover the main components of DMPs and how to create them using the DMPTool. Attendees will learn to: locate templates by funding agency, add research collaborators, and identify institutional guidance.
Virtual Event (Zoom)The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
