Unconventional students at Rice: Jazz Silva

For Sid Richardson College senior Jazz Silva, college has been about more than classroom learning. As president of the Student Association (SA), Silva has learned to advocate for others and also to ask for help herself.

The cognitive science major was diagnosed with epilepsy during her sophomore year. She decided to start the semester, but as her condition worsened, she found she could not keep up with her classes.

“Lucky for us, at Rice when you hit rock bottom, there’s 50 people in line waiting to pick you up, and there’s 50 people who have been in your exact same position,” Silva said. “And the second I put my pride away, things started to turn around for me.”
Silva called her Rice career “a huge success,” from overcoming epilepsy to finding her passion for student advocacy to becoming SA president.
Regarding her future plans, Silva said, “I don’t know what I want to do, but I do know who I want to be, and I want to be this type of person forever. I want to have this type of optimism forever.”