{"id":1611,"date":"2025-02-28T16:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T21:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/?p=1611"},"modified":"2025-08-01T16:40:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T20:40:32","slug":"patel-provides-the-student-voice-on-ut-system-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/patel-provides-the-student-voice-on-ut-system-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Patel Provides the Student Voice on UT System Board"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lisa Patel has been advocating for student involvement since high school, when the local school board wanted to get rid of International Baccalaureate classes. Patel made a plea to the board members to consider how the students felt before making their decision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was the first time Patel realized the power of her voice and how much influence she could have when given the chance. Her passion for leadership has sustained at the University of Tennessee. It\u2019s why she jumped at the chance to apply for the student trustee role on the UT System Board of Trustees for this academic year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UT junior biomedical engineering major was selected to the position and has been attending board meetings to be the voice of all college students in the state system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have taken it upon myself to go out and speak to our community and talk to students and find out what\u2019s going on,\u201d Patel said. \u201cAlthough I am a student rep, I\u2019m only familiar with engineering and only with a certain part of engineering at that, so I think it\u2019s my responsibility to go out and learn what other parts of our student body are facing or what problems they\u2019re seeing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel has felt welcomed by the board members and believes they value her input during discussions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAbsolutely, my voice has been heard,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve discussed a lot of the presentation material with board members, and they\u2019ve always been so welcoming and understanding from where I\u2019m coming from. It\u2019s been a very supportive community, and I feel like they truly want what\u2019s best for students.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width:100%\"><div style=\"width: 15%;height: 10px;margin: 40px 0 px;border-bottom: 6px solid #ff8200\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Making a Better Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel is a first-generation college student. Her parents were born in India and immigrated to the United States. Patel was born and was raised in nearby Cookeville, where her parents own several gas stations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy parents left India with absolutely nothing in their hands and came over here and have just been working their butts off ever since,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThey are so inspiring to me, and although I don\u2019t have to work my butt off in the same sense that they do, I still hope to be a hard worker like they have been and earn what I get.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel\u2019s life experiences and perspective have been shaped by her parents and influences many of the choices she makes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s never been a day that I haven\u2019t been grateful for what I have,\u201d Patel said. \u201cI think that\u2019s brought me forward a lot, and I think it\u2019s helped me in the way that I view things. Having a whole different culture and a whole different part of me has really helped me see the world and see anything I approach in a different way.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel was always interested in attending UT because of its strong educational reputation. Once she toured the Knoxville campus and learned more about the university and the opportunities available, she was ready to enroll.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI knew it\u2019d be a great place for my leadership ability to kind of bloom, and for me to bloom as a person, student, advocate leader, and all the titles I could put on myself,\u201d Patel said. \u201cI knew I was meant to be in a bigger setting, because as much as I tried in Cookeville, my voice could only go so far, and I know UT will be a major stepping off point when I go into the real world and have even more people listening to my voice.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width:100%\"><div style=\"width: 15%;height: 10px;margin: 40px 0 px;border-bottom: 6px solid #ff8200\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advocate for Advancement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel\u2019s interest in studying biomedical engineering arose after watching her great aunt develop dementia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSeeing that was really scary for our entire family, and it made me really curious about the way our body functions and how technology can come together with our body,\u201d Patel said. \u201cThe human body is just something you have, and people will try to figure out how it works. Technology is the other way around. You start with nothing, and you build up. I thought the combination of those two things was really interesting in the way they work together.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with her love of engineering, Patel has a deep connection with music. She loves to sing and was in band, choir, and musical theater growing up. She plays the flute and is learning how to play the guitar and piano.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy favorite moments in college have been when me and my friends have gotten together to just jam out,\u201d Patel said. \u201cMusic is a really great stress reliever for me right now.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since becoming the student representative on the UT System Board of Trustees, Patel has made a connection with Jamie Woodson, a board member and UT graduate. Woodson has worn different hats throughout her life as a legislator, businesswoman, and educational advocate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patel is hoping to have a similar impact in her career. She wants to work in the engineering field for as long as possible and potentially become a business owner.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut I also don\u2019t want to stop advocating\u2014ever, ever, ever,\u201d Patel said. \u201cI think a great way to give back to the community is when you have a platform, and you have the ability to have people listen to you. It\u2019s important to say the right things when you can.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width:100%\"><div style=\"width: 15%;height: 10px;margin: 40px 0 px;border-bottom: 6px solid #ff8200\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683,&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:rpotkey@utk.edu\">rpotkey@utk.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Junior Lisa Patel is serving as the student trustee on the UT System Board of Trustees for this academic year, a role she&#8217;s always wanted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382],"tags":[495,496],"class_list":["post-1611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student","tag-lisa-patel","tag-ut-system-board-of-trustees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Patel Provides the Student Voice on UT System Board<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Junior Lisa Patel is serving as the student trustee on the UT System Board of Trustees for this academic year, a role she&#039;s always wanted.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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