For 16-year-old Mariana Correa the words \u201cIf I were your parents I wouldn\u2019t let you play tennis\u201d was the motivation she needed to thrive at Texas A&M University-Kingsville as an international student and an athlete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a suitcase full of dreams and determination to prove that statement wrong, Correa traveled from Brazil to TAMUK in 2017 to play tennis and pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. Recently, Correa has added another accolade to her record and has been named Student Engineer of the Year in the Nueces Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I first learned I was nominated for Engineer Student of the Year, I didn\u2019t know if I was going to win. I was just happy that my work was being recognized and it was a huge reminder that I was going in the right direction,\u201d Correa said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Correa this accomplishment emphasized that her family\u2019s sacrifices were paying off. As an international student, Correa strives to standout in her academics with the goal to succeed in the job market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe [Gustavo and Paula Correa] are very proud of the dedication Mariana puts towards her studies, her internships and her tutoring job. She\u2019s getting closer to graduating, and she has grown so much as a person over the years\u2026 I\u2019m most proud of Mariana during the toughest times, when she remains focused on her goals no matter the circumstance\u2026we are proud of the person she is becoming,\u201d Paula Correa, mother of Marianna Correa, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While at TAMUK Correa has been actively involved on campus and completed several hands-on internships. During the summer of 2019, Correa worked alongside SpawGlass Contractors and had the opportunity to work on the new School of Music at TAMUK focusing on construction management. Correa has also worked with BGE Inc. where she provided engineer support for water infrastructure design projects. As a sophomore in college, Correa joined the Pathway Academic Assistant Center (PAAC) as a tutor for Civil Engineering and enjoys helping others succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correa\u2019s involvement and extracurricular activities have made her a top performer among the engineering program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI talked to other faculty in the department and we found that she was one of our best students. There was a group of really good students but when we were adding things together she had a few more things that put her above other students. She\u2019s done a really great job during her undergrad studies,\u201d Interim Chair and professor Dr. Francisco Aguiniga said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Correa will graduate with a 4.0 this Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am here today because I didn\u2019t listen when I was told I couldn\u2019t do it. And I am now ready to apply everything I\u2019ve learned so far to the real world. I am ready to make a difference,\u201d Correa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For 16-year-old Mariana Correa the words \u201cIf I were your parents I wouldn\u2019t let you play tennis\u201d was the motivation she needed to thrive at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":5242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,128,9,125,131],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[151],"class_list":["post-5241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-community","category-home","category-news-and-features","category-newsletter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"authors":[{"term_id":151,"user_id":21,"is_guest":0,"slug":"aryssa-enriquez","display_name":"Aryssa Enriquez","avatar_url":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/0020c1ea55d6b31711a3a85616fd14b0.jpg?ver=1778633080","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5241"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5244,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5241\/revisions\/5244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5241"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesouthtexan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}[soliloquy id=\"5233\"]<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n