How one UHCL MHA student found her calling in healthcare

Turning opportunity into leadership

What she found at UHCL was more than a classroom experience. She found mentors who challenged her to lead before she fully believed she could.

At a new-student orientation, Dr. Femi Ayadi, professor of healthcare administration, approached Thomas with an unexpected opportunity: to compete in a healthcare case competition.

"She didn't know me," Thomas said. "She just saw me and was like, 'I want you to do this, and I want you to pursue this.'"

That moment would change everything.

Through faculty mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities, Thomas competed in multiple healthcare administration case competitions, including the Fleming Center Case Competition with the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, where her team earned second place, and the 30^th Annual National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition, where her team finished among the top 10 semifinalists out of 33 teams nationwide.

Thomas credits UHCL's curriculum with preparing her for the pressure and complexity of those competitions.

"One of the things that we do a lot on the healthcare administrative side is group projects, presentations, speaking in front of our classmates, and receiving questions to challenge our thoughts," she said.

She specifically points to Faculty and Department Chair in Healthcare Administration Jordan Mitchell's classroom environment as preparation for executive-level problem solving.

"Their job is to question us and give us extremely hard questions to challenge our knowledge," Thomas explained. "That helped the most when it came to the question-and-answer portion of the case competition."

Those experiences sharpened more than her presentation skills. They transformed her confidence as a leader.

"At the beginning, it was hard for me to take initiative because I didn't want to step on anyone's toes," Thomas said. "I learned that in order for us to have the best possible result, I needed to trust my team and also trust myself."

Today, Thomas serves as a volunteer coordinator at Houston Methodist, a position she says came directly from the relationships and opportunities built through UHCL.

"Dr. Ayadi recommended me for the position I'm currently in," she said. "Really, she's been kind of the major player in my story."

Resilience behind the success

Her success, however, came during one of the most difficult seasons of her life.

Thomas shared that while preparing for the NAHSE Case Competition, she was simultaneously navigating unemployment, financial uncertainty, and major personal transitions.

"I was unemployed for almost a year," she said. "I was living with my grandma, and it was a rough time because obviously I didn't have money. I was a student, broke college kid, and I was just trying to make ends meet."

While studying daily for competition presentations, she learned she had been hired by Houston Methodist. She returned from the competition in Philadelphia and started her new job the following Monday.

"Everything happened back-to-back," she said. "My focus was just trying to make it."

Through it all, Thomas leaned heavily on faith, family, and community support.

"When I felt like giving up, I had the confidence of other people around me when I didn't have it for myself," she said. "Calling my mom, calling my friends, and them saying, 'You're almost there girl, you're doing it.'"

Now, as she prepares for graduation in December 2026, Thomas hopes to give back to future UHCL students by helping coach and prepare upcoming case competition teams.

"I just want to prepare them," she said. "I want them to represent."

Her advice to students considering stepping outside their comfort zone is simple:

"I want people to step out of their comfort zone and not necessarily wait for someone to ask them to do something," Thomas said. "You never know what can come out of it. You never know who you'll meet."

Thomas' journey reflects the kind of transformational experience UHCL intentionally strives to provide. One where mentorship, applied learning, and leadership development intersect to prepare students for the next level of their careers. And for Thomas, that next level is only beginning.

Ready to lead the future of healthcare administration? Learn how UHCL can help you advance your career at www.uhcl.edu/academics/degrees/healthcare-administration-mha.