SAN ANTONIO – Hailing from Raymondville, Texas (pop. 10,236), a small town that is known as the “Gateway to the Rio Grande Valley,” Miranda Moya is making the most of her experiences at UT San Antonio to one day impact the community where she was raised.
Moya, currently a Doctor of Occupational Therapy student in the School of Health Professions, earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology from the College for Health, Community and Policy in the fall of 2024. She was one of more than 100 students annually who serve as student assistants within the UTSA Athletics Department.
“When I applied to UTSA, I knew that I wanted to do some type of work-study job,” Moya said. “I saw the opportunity pop up to be a student assistant for athletics communications. I’ve always been a big fan of athletics, so seeing the behind-the-scenes access was really interesting. I was able to network, make lots of connections and got to spend time around my favorite sports. I had a blast through it all.”
Moya, who like nearly 45 percent of the undergraduate population at UT San Antonio was a first-generation college student, assisted in all aspects of the Roadrunners’ athletics communications department throughout her undergraduate career.
“I definitely think it broke me out of my shell a lot,” Moya said. “I used to be very quiet, very reserved and I still am, but there are moments now where I know how to stand my ground or speak up. Getting my foot in the door with athletics has been able to help me grow as a person.”
While Moya knew that her future was always going to be in the medical profession, she found that her experiences working for UTSA Athletics helped prepared her for her next step in pursuing a Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree.
“I took every opportunity, every experience to heart,” Moya said. “I feel like even if it’s a different field than what you’re going into, you can learn something each and every day and apply it to what you actually want to do in life. I’m really glad I got to experience this. I will always hold it close to my heart and I am very appreciative of it.”
The opportunity to attend UT San Antonio is one that has made a big impact in Moya’s life.
“I’m originally from a small town in the Rio Grande Valley, so coming to UTSA was a big deal for me,” she said. “Especially where I’m from, not a lot of people go into the field that I want to go into. I just felt that UTSA and San Antonio had the best opportunities for me.”
There is a particular need for occupational therapists in Moya’s hometown and that has contributed to her desire to pursue the profession.
“I come from a very low-income community and there’s not a lot of opportunities for these types of things,” she said. “Once I learned about OT, I kind of went full force with it and started researching. I wanted to do something that could really stand out in my community, especially because I come from an area where that is really necessary.”
Moya is a powerful example of the possibilities that are created by the merger of UTSA and UT Health San Antonio, which became official on Monday, to form UT San Antonio, the third-largest research institution in the state of Texas.
“I’m involved with a school that I’m very familiar with,” Moya said. “I’ve been able to give advice and talk about what my experiences have been like at UTSA to some of the new people that I’ve made friends with, especially those who are from out of state. I tell them that UTSA has all these athletic events. They’re all fun and everyone should come out.”
Moya has big goals for her future and how she expects to use her Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree.
“Once I finish school and pass all my exams to be a licensed occupational therapist in Texas, my plan is either to go back home and open my own practice or I will stay in San Antonio and possibly find a way to work with an athletics program to develop occupational therapy into sport,” Moya said. “Branching that occupational therapy into rehabilitative services I think would be really cool in athletics.”
Whichever path Moya decides to pursue, it’s important to her that she serves as a role model for young people back home.
“Knowing that I have been able to put my foot forward and become an example for others in my community has really meant a lot to me,” she said.