News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A Cookeville High Graduate elected as a University of Tennessee Student Trustee, the first local student to serve in that role.
Lisa Patel said she got the opportunity to apply for the student trustee position as a recipient of the Haslam Leadership Scholarship. Patel said she is thankful to receive the honor and believes many people in Cookeville helped prepare her for the opportunity.
“I can absolutely say that I would not be in the position that I am in without all the amazing people in Cookeville who have helped me get here,” Patel said. “Mainly Emily Chambers, she was my teacher in high school for Ethereum knowledge and she has been such a great support even after high school to help me get here.”
Patel said as student trustee, she represents more than 60,000 students who attend the university across five campuses. Patel said she hopes that her accomplishment will set the foundation for more students in Cookeville to achieve similar honors.
“I’m hoping that I’m starting a trend,” Patel said. “And I’m hoping that fellow Cookeville students will see this as hey I can do that too and hopefully they will get encouragement coming from a smaller town and have belief in themselves that they can do it too.”
Patel said she made efforts while in high school to have a student position on the Putnam County School Board. Although that effort never came to fruition Patel said her efforts led her to grow passionate for higher education.
“That idea and that research I had to do to be able to send that it really increased my passion in higher education and understanding why it’s important to have student voice in those decisions,” Patel said. “Because you know at the end of the day it is about the students.”
Patel said she has interacted with many students at the university so she can best represent the students when the university is making decisions. Patel said she loves being a student trustee so much that she does not view it as work. Patel said in the future she hopes to explore a career in Biomedical Engineering but after that career, she plans to pursue working in education.
