Unconventional students at Rice: The reason I’m here

In 2011 — a month before he had even officially entered Rice — Ravi Sheth was volunteering in Urban Immersion, a Rice program designed to introduce incoming students to Houston’s urban issues and social needs.

Four years later, the Martel College senior is immersed in the university. The bioengineering major works on research projects in Jeff Tabor’s lab at the BioScience Research Collaborative, has established a K-12 education startup with Provost George McLendon and was elected Student Association president as a write-in candidate.

“I feel like I’ve had this incredible opportunity to do a lot of different things,” he said. “I’ve been able to wear a lot of different hats.”

Sheth credits his very existence to Rice — his parents met as undergraduates. Today he understands the twinkle that appears in their eyes every time they speak of their time at the university.