The path from McAllen, Texas, to the highest student leadership position at The University of Texas at Austin wasn't a straight line. Just ask Grace Kelly, a Plan II and Human Development and Family Sciences, whose rise to Student Government president was shaped by academic rigor, organizational leadership, personal resilience, and the strategic use of campus resources.
“When I first arrived on the Forty Acres, I never imagined I'd end up as Student Government president,” Kelly says. “But looking back, I can see how each UT experience built upon the last, creating this journey that makes perfect sense now.”
That pathway—rooted in her academic majors and extracurricular passions, then enhanced through a series of interconnected programs offered by UT's Undergraduate College (UC)—provides a compelling blueprint for how students can maximize their time at the state's flagship university by combining personal initiative with institutional opportunities.
Making a Big Campus Feel Small
Like many first-year students arriving at the University, Kelly initially felt overwhelmed by the sheer size of the campus. With more than 50,000 students, it's easy for newcomers to get lost in the crowd.
Enter the Signature Course program—a UC initiative designed to provide first-year students with small, discussion-based classes. Kelly found herself in a course called “Hunger,” taught by Dr. Marc Bizer, where she honed her critical thinking, deepened her ability to analyze complex problems, and expanded her approach to integrating interdisciplinary concepts.
“The course was a very intimate conversation about how we can look at hunger from various perspectives,” Kelly explains. “We talked about mental hunger, like craving something or desiring a goal, world hunger, and hunger in literature.”
This small class environment created lasting bonds. “Every single person in that class has remained my friend,” she shares.
Simultaneously, Kelly joined a First-Year Interest Group (FIG) for pre-med and neuroscience students. FIGs—another UC key initiative—are designed to cluster first-year students with similar interests into small communities led by peer mentors and connected to faculty. Though her career aspirations would eventually shift away from medicine, this early peer community proved invaluable.
“It helps you bridge that community within people who are in a similar major venue,” Kelly explains about her FIG experience. The student-led structure provided crucial resources and connections, including rekindling a relationship with a fellow student from her hometown.
Finding Her True North
By junior year, Kelly had begun questioning her pre-med path. It was a pivotal moment when one of her faculty mentors, Professor Stephen Sonnenberg from Plan II, recommended the Bridging Disciplines Programs (BDP), a UC program offering interdisciplinary certificates.
“Professor Sonnenberg told me about this BDP certificate in Patients, Practitioners, and Cultures of Care that he'd helped create,” Kelly explains. “The BDP program was perfect timing because I was navigating away from becoming a doctor but still felt drawn to health and policy issues.”
The 19-credit interdisciplinary certificate program exposed Kelly to courses she would never have discovered otherwise—philosophy classes examining bioethical questions, psychology seminars on science's role in society, and a particularly transformative mindfulness course.
One particularly transformative BDP class was a mindfulness course she took during the summer. “I was taking that class while I got in a really bad car accident,” Kelly recalls. “The class was teaching you how to stay grounded and to heal through yourself. It was very timely . . . it really helped me heal during that time.”
The BDP also required a connecting experience that applies academic learning to practical initiatives. For Kelly, these included research on the health and wellbeing of low-income science students and work in an aging research laboratory—experiences that would shape her future career plans.
Mentorship and Community
In true Texas fashion, Kelly emphasizes that relationships have been just as important as formal programs in her development. One of the most valuable aspects of her UC experience has been the mentorship and community that made a large university feel more personal and accessible. Two mentors stand out in her journey. Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg, who holds the Paul Woodruff Professorship and serves as a UC faculty member, first introduced her to the BDPs during a Plan II pre-med meeting her freshman year. He recognized the alignment between Kelly's interests and the Patients, Practitioners & Cultures of Care certificate, and has remained connected to her as her thesis second reader, helping her navigate her transition away from pre-med studies toward her current interests in public health policy.
Dr. Richard Reddick, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of the Undergraduate College, has been a significant influence since Kelly's sophomore year when she studied abroad with him at Oxford, England. “We've remained in contact ever since,” she says. “He actually wrote my letter of recommendation to get into my second study abroad experience in Vienna, Austria.” Their connection continues as they now serve together on the Texas Unions Board, demonstrating how academic relationships at UT can evolve into ongoing mentorship and collaboration.
Beyond these key mentors, Kelly has valued connections with various professors through her UC programs. “I've connected with professors who are working within fields of interest,” she notes. “Both of my BDP 101 teachers were doctors, and so we've been able to talk about what their life as a female doctor has been like.”
Changing Course Without Losing Direction
For Kelly, like many students, the transition away from her initial career plans could have been disorienting. However, the interconnected nature of UC programs provided continuity during this pivot.
When she moved away from pre-med, Kelly says she still knew she had interests in science and policy, but she needed a new direction, and the BDPs showed her how to bridge those interests in ways she hadn't considered. The program allowed her to discover new career possibilities by showing how science connects to other disciplines. “It's been really cool to see how everything connects and that we're able to talk about science in its relationship to creative outlets and the humanities,” Kelly explains. “We actually got to go to the Blanton too, and talk about how art relates to science, which is really what I did in high school with my 'Cope with Hope' project.”
This integration of diverse interests led to her post-graduation plans to work in public health policy before pursuing a graduate degree.
Research with Real Impact
For many Longhorns, undergraduate research remains an intimidating prospect. Kelly's progression through UC programs culminated in research experiences that built naturally upon her previous learning.
She credits UC’s Office of Undergraduate Research for bridging the gap between coursework and hands-on research, connecting her with opportunities she might have otherwise missed while also providing essential structure for her success. Through her Human Development and Family Sciences program, she joined the Older Adult Well-Being Lab investigating caregivers of individuals with Lewy body dementia. “It's incredibly rewarding to see how our research can impact people's lives,” she says. “We're addressing real challenges facing families.”
Meanwhile, her Plan II thesis connected her with UT's Counseling and Mental Health Center on a project examining mental health among low-income science students.
“I'm the student lead on a faculty team,” Kelly explains. “Having a voice in these conversations has been incredibly rewarding . . . knowing that I'm contributing to such a huge issue as mental health on college campuses.”
This progression from classroom learner to campus change-maker exemplifies how UC programs create pipelines toward increasing student autonomy and impact.
Advice for Fellow Longhorns
As she prepares to don her cap and gown at the end of the Spring semester, Kelly offers advice for current and future Longhorns looking to make the most of their time on the Forty Acres.
“Though getting involved in a FIG or a Signature Course takes time, I've really seen, as a senior, that all those things pay off,” she advises.
She emphasizes how UC programs create a more personalized experience at a large university: “Those experiences really allow you to make the school feel a lot smaller by finding your niches.”
She particularly values how the BDPs connect different academic areas: “If you're within a very general major, I think the BDPs really allow you to connect that major to maybe a different passion of yours. You can really bridge disciplines—literally. You get to connect the humanities to the arts or sciences to the arts and just really find the ways that all these different disciplines connect.”
The UC Difference
For Dr. Richard Reddick, stories like Kelly's exemplify the vision behind UC's interconnected approach.
“We designed these programs to build upon one another, creating pathways that guide students toward increasing levels of engagement and impact,” Reddick explains. “Grace's journey—from a Signature Course to the Office of Undergraduate Research to leadership in student government—demonstrates how this interconnected approach helps Longhorns discover and pursue their purposes.”
As UT continues to innovate undergraduate education, Kelly's experience offers a roadmap for creating cohesive student journeys rather than disconnected programs.
“Everything connects in ways you can't anticipate until you look back," Kelly reflects. “Finding those connections has been the most valuable part of my time at UT.”
For this Longhorn from McAllen, each step—each class, mentor, and challenge—has built a bridge from freshman orientation to campus leadership, setting the stage for an impactful future.