Record number of UTSA Honors College students graduate this month

MAY 14, 2024 — This month, 270 seniors in the Honors College are expected to graduate from UTSA, making them the largest graduating class in the college’s history.

Most of the students in this semester’s graduating class didn’t have a typical start to college life, nor have they experienced a traditional graduation ceremony. Due to the pandemic, their high school senior year and first semester of classes at UTSA were held nearly entirely online, leaving them socially isolated. Despite that, these Roadrunners demonstrated resilience, creativity and determination throughout their time at UTSA.

Many of these Honors College graduates already have impressive jobs lined up or will be starting graduate school in the fall.

Conrad Finos, who is earning his bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, will participate in an international internship in Panama on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, before joining the agency full time in Washington, D.C. this fall as a diplomatic information specialist. His engagement with the U.S. Department of State began in 2022, when he was one of 15 students in the country to be awarded a Foreign Affairs Information Technology Fellowship. That experience set him on a path to a career using his technology skills to support U.S. diplomacy abroad.

Johan de Greef, a graduating senior in mechanical engineering, will be moving to Missouri for a career at Whiteman Air Force Base to work on its B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and support base infrastructure.

Grace Johnson, a graduating senior in psychology and art, will be starting a master’s degree in art therapy at Syracuse University in New York this fall.

Mechanical engineering senior Noah Hernandez has accepted a job at aerospace company Blue Origin in Huntsville, Alabama.

Top Scholar Tejas Narayanan will be moving to Colorado to begin work as an environmental consultant for Ernst and Young’s climate change and sustainability services division, where he completed a summer internship in 2023. At UTSA, he was a member of the student organization Plant the Future, he served as a student representative on the university’s Sustainability Council and he interned with the Office of Sustainability.

Many of this year’s Honors College graduates are choosing to stay in Texas to begin their careers or attend graduate school.

For example, cybersecurity senior Catalina Cardenas, will be starting her career in the security and resiliency division at Dell Technologies in Austin, Texas, in July.

Joana Contreras, who is earning her bachelor’s degree in interior design and is preparing for the interior design certification exam to become a licensed interior designer will be working at Texas Wilson, a commercial office design company, in San Antonio.

Finance senior Syndey Scott has accepted a job as an accountant with TC Energy in Houston, Texas.

Camryn Kubicek, an anthropology major with minors in archeological practice and museum studies, will begin a M.A. in Heritage and Museum Studies at Texas Tech University this fall.

Jennifer Cervantes, a microbiology and immunology senior, has been accepted into Texas A&M University’s pharmacy school in College Station.

There are also Honors College graduates who will continue as Roadrunners this fall, pursuing graduate degrees in accounting, architecture, artificial intelligence, business administration, biomedical engineering, computer science, criminology and criminal justice, health, community and policy, information technology and mechanical engineering, to name a few.

Other notable Honors College graduates this semester include:

• Margot Duque, a double major in public administration and policy and French, a UTSA Top Scholar and a 2023 Truman Scholar. After graduation she will participate in the Truman Summer Institute, during which she will intern with the U.S. Department of Education before beginning a full-time position as an educational policy analyst at the Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research.
  
  
• Marissa Coppin, a neuroscience major, a UTSA Top Scholar, 2023 Goldwater Scholar and a 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award winner. She will pursue a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania beginning this fall.
  
  
• Ernesto Flores, a physics major, 2023 Goldwater Scholar and 2024 NSF GRFP award winner. He will begin a PhD in Physics at Stanford University this fall.
  
  
• William Hughes, a chemistry major and Japanese minor, UTSA Top Scholar and a 2024 recipient of the NSF GRFP award. He will begin a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Colorado State University starting in the fall.

Home to more than 2,000 hardworking, achievement-oriented, conscientious students across all majors, the UTSA Honors College offers one of the most unique experiential honors curricula in the nation. Its practical, hands-on approach to learning allows students to chart their own path and achieve their highest potential.

To graduate from the Honors College, students complete a combination of honors courses and signature experiences, which can be fulfilled by participating in activities inside or outside the classroom such as service projects, professional development programs such as internships and fellowships, intellectual achievement projects such as thesis development and research, study abroad or other cultural exploration experiences, engaged living, skill development, independent study, honors contracts, or by taking additional experiential learning honors courses.

— KC Gonzalez