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Student Spotlight: Maggie Avila
One
of the most-fulfilling things that Maggie Avila has done since
becoming a student at the University of Houston is volunteer at
Texas Children�s Hospital.
Avila, a junior majoring in human nutrition and foods, spent her
Saturday mornings last summer playing with young patients
receiving care at the facility in the Texas Medical Center. She
hopes to possibly do it again this upcoming summer.
�On the floor where I volunteered, there were mainly kids who
had seizures or really couldn�t leave their room, so I had to go
to their room and entertain them,� she said. �Some of them would
have birthdays and we go and decorate their room. I love kids.
It was a lot of fun.�
For the past two school years, Avila has been a student worker
for UH Dining. In that capacity, she markets the various meal
plans to students and helps inform them of what is offered.
Throughout the year, she represents UH Dining at various
functions and events, helping to answer questions and pass out
information at tablings.
She is scheduled to graduate in December 2014. When she does,
she hopes to land an internship, then become a dietitian at
either a hospital or school. That wasn�t her original plan,
however, after graduating from North Shore High School in the
Galena Park Independent School District.
�I came to UH as a biology major, with the idea of possibly
going to medical school,� Avila said.
She soon changed her mind and decided to pursue a print
journalism degree, even volunteering her time to help with the
newspaper class at her old high school. But the uncertain future
of the print news industry led her to research other possible
careers. When she came across the human nutrition program at UH,
she knew she had found her niche in life.
�I�ve always been interested in being healthy and working out
and having a good healthy lifestyle, so I went to talk to the
advisers and they told me more about the program and I quickly
realized it was for me,� she said.
Avila said the decision to go to UH after high school was an
easy one. She didn�t want to move away from her family, and she
wanted to attend a good university. UH fit both criteria.
�I really liked it when I came to visit the campus. It felt very
welcoming,� she said.
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