CHS Announces 2024-2025 Houston Endowment Scholars
Published September 4, 2024
By Darlene Muguiro
UTEP College of Health Sciences
College of Health Sciences undergraduate students Aliyah Sanchez and Irene John Tomy were recently selected as the college’s 2024-25 Houston Endowment Scholarship Award recipients. Houston Endowment scholarship funds aim to support outstanding undergraduates within each of UTEP’s academic units who have also been declared Honors Program inductees. Annually, program administrators review applications and select students who exemplify leadership and community service as well as academic excellence. Scholarship funding will support each student through the remainder of their undergraduate degrees.
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Aliyah Sanchez, a senior in the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences program, had an unconventional start at UTEP as an Early College High School student. She entered the university thinking she would major in physical therapy, but quickly learned the field wasn’t for her. In speaking with her parents about the rehabilitation field, she discovered that she had received speech therapy as a young child. The conversation helped clarify some of her struggles in high school and piqued her interest in speech-language pathology (SLP).
Despite the challenges of being a much younger student, Sanchez excelled during her first year at UTEP and found that she really enjoyed her SLP classes, particularly Dr. Vannesa Mueller’s sign language course. This new field excited Sanchez so much that she decided to create a new student organization around signing, Everyone Signs. The group is open to all majors at UTEP and welcomes any student who is interested in learning about basic signing and the deaf culture.
Sanchez believes that her decision to include details about both her evolving interest in SLP and developing the student organization helped her application stand out among others. She says when she was first notified about receiving the scholarship, she thought it was a prank.
“My family bought me a cake to celebrate, and even then, I told them that it was likely a mistake of some sort,” she said.
After graduation, Sanchez plans to pursue a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. She is interested in working with children, either in a school setting or private practice.
Follow Everyone Signs on Instagram: @ _everyone_signs_
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Irene John Tomy, a junior Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) major, is the second Health Sciences recipient of the Houston Endowment scholarship this academic year. She believes her application was viewed positively because of the special story she shared regarding why she is pursuing her career.
“I know that all of the applicants had done many great things, and are all very competitive, but I really tried to convey in my personal statement that all my activities have a purpose, which is to help people with metabolic conditions,” she said.
John Tomy said that within her blended Indian and Mexican family, food is a very important element, embedded in both cultures. Unfortunately, some of the food choices are unhealthy, which puts her extended family at risk – many of her family members have metabolic health issues. John Tomy decided to pursue a CLS degree to better understand these conditions. She is a member of the UTEP Metabolism, Nutrition and Exercise Research (MiNER) Laboratory, which focuses on metabolism and diabetes research, and also volunteers for local food pantries. Most recently, she received the American Physiological Society’s SURF Award, a highly competitive award that supports undergraduate student research in physiology during the summer months.
John Tomy says that she was excited to learn that she had received the Houston Endowment scholarship, one of a handful of opportunities that international students are allowed to apply for. The scholarship will help to reduce her tuition and fees, allowing her to completely focus on completing her degree and research activities in the MiNER Lab.
After graduation, John Tomy will begin working as a clinical laboratory technologist to build her healthcare background. In the future, she plans to pursue a degree as a physician assistant and hopes to be accepted to a program in Texas.
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Go Miners!
