Get to know Raksha
Why did you choose Ole Miss?
I have grown up in Mississippi my entire life and thought I always wanted to leave the state for college. When senior year came around at the Mississippi School for Math and Science, I attempted to do so and made a housing deposit to another university. Then I came to the Ole Miss campus April of my senior year to stay with a friend, and we were just walking around campus when I realized the atmosphere and welcoming feeling I felt here was not what I experienced at that the other campus.
Since my offer for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and scholarships were still standing, I switched everything over and ended up coming to Ole Miss—a decision I don’t regret! I started off as a biology major, but I needed to take an extra elective class during the second semester of sophomore year. One of my friends recommended the Exercise Science (ES) department because the classes were really interesting. I ended up taking the course ES 391: Trends and Topics in ES with Dr. Jeremy Loenneke. He was extremely knowledgeable, and I really enjoyed the way he taught. It was more of a discussion class and actually processing the material versus just memorizing the facts. I approached him about doing my honors college thesis research under his supervision. Once he agreed and I joined his lab, it reaffirmed my decision to switch to ES.
What are your career goals?
What makes Exercise Science at Ole Miss special?
What advice do you have for incoming students?
Don’t be scared of the opportunities you can get in ES program. There are a lot of things that the professors, advisers, and other students have experiences with, so if someone brings up an opportunity for you and you’re not really expecting it, take it and run with it.