MIKAYLA LOUIS

Mikayla Louis is a 3rd-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She identifies as a Black woman who is still navigating multiple aspects of her cultural identity. She was born in Germany and has moved to various places since then because both of her parents served in the US. army for over 20 years. She thoroughly enjoyed going to places but as many army brats can attest to, it left her without a sense of community. Having moved around her entire life, she has become eager to encourage young people to build their up communities when they feel out of place or alone. Her hope is that young people will no longer feel nervous or ashamed of wanting more for themselves because of outdated ideologies that have been around for decades.

Research interests include supporting women of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and encouraging their advocates to create more conversations for positive change. She strives to help uplift marginalized communities and destroy systems and institutions that have been designed to keep them down. Through the P20 Pathways program, Mikayla hopes to gain insight to develop her research methods further and to utilize those techniques to foster the growth of future generations in the U.S.