Commencement Spotlight: Evelyn Hlebik, Education and Human Development
(Dec. 11, 2014) -- Meet Evelyn Hlebik. When she graduated from high school, her grandmother made copies of her diploma, folded them into paper airplanes and made them fly.
She used the paper airplanes to tell her granddaughter that although a diploma was just a piece of paper, her dreams would fly with the gift nobody could ever take away from her -- the education she had earned.
"My grandmother was a teacher for 35 years. She always put in me this sense of feeling that education is the most important thing in the world," Hlebik said.
As a soon-to-be elementary school teacher, Hlebik will instill the same lesson into the students whose lives she will change.
"The education I'm getting, what I'm earning here, nobody can ever take that away from you," she said.
But getting to where she is now took a lot of hard work and several difficult detours. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Hlebik served in Iraq as a medic at the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Puerto Rico native joined the Army as a way to help her family after they'd lost her father to cancer. As one of the oldest in her family, she knew she had to step up and take responsibility for her mother and younger siblings.
"When the pressure comes, you just have to tackle it," said Hlebik, a 35-year-old mother of three biological children and two stepchildren who still battles PTSD.
So when she decided to go to college in 2011, she did just that. She began at a community college as a single mother, telling her children that their mom would have to attend school just like they do. It was difficult, she said, but she pushed through and eventually transferred to UTSA. She will graduate with honors.
"I've been put in the most difficult situations that anyone could possibly experience in life, and I've survived," Hlebik said. "I can definitely help motivate my students to get through their obstacles."
---------------------------------
Read about graduates from all of the UTSA colleges at the Commencement 2014 website.
Do you know a fascinating UTSA student who is planning to graduate in May 2015? Share that story with us at news@utsa.edu.
Connect online with UTSA on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
Events
The UTSA Office of Undergraduate is proud to celebrate National Undergraduate Research with an annual event sponsored by the (OUR) featuring students will showcase undergraduate student research and creative endeavors from all disciplines across campus.
Various LocationsDía en la Sombrilla, formerly Fiesta UTSA, is a festival hosted each spring as a part of Fiesta® San Antonio events. Sponsored by Roadrunner Productions, the event features music, food, confetti, games, event t-shirts, and more.
Sombrilla Plaza and Central Plaza, Main CampusFiesta Arts Fair features contemporary art from more than 100 artists from across the U.S., Fiesta favorite foods, drinks, live music by local and regional performers, and a Young Artists Garden providing opportunities for budding artists to learn, explore and express their creativity.
UTSA Southwest CampusJoin the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event is to achnowlege the graduating seniors and induct the new cohart of scholars to our program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140,) Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome