Posted on May 4, 2026 by Wendy Frost
First-generation student Evany Gonzalez fell in love with the field of economics and decided “why stop.”
Evany Gonzalez
She received her undergraduate degree in economics in 2024, and this May she’ll graduate with her MS in Economics degree from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UT San Antonio. And, she is continuing her education as a fully-funded doctoral student in economics at the University of New Hampshire.
“There is so much you can do with economics,” said Gonzalez. “Economics is everywhere, and the field is so broad. I guess you could say I really fell in love with it.”
Graduating from South San Antonio High School, Gonzalez was able to complete both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in four years at UT San Antonio.
“I wanted to go further with my degree in economics,” she said. “I knew the faculty and the campus. I felt comfortable here. And, the university made it easy to apply for my master’s because I was awarded automatic acceptance through the Keep Running With Us admissions program.”
Gonzalez shared that all of her economics professors were amazing, but her favorite classes were with Don Lien, professor of economics. “I liked the structure of his classes,” she said. “I had three economics classes with him that were engaging, and he had us do a lot of writing.”
Her biggest regret was not speaking up sooner in her classes as an undergraduate. As part of her graduate program, she enjoyed engaging more with faculty and the applied nature of her graduate work.
“The projects helped me apply what we learned in class, and what we read about,” said Gonzalez, who also worked part-time at a rehab center and a senior living facility. “The professors gave us the flexibility to pick topics that appealed to us. With my graduate degree I really got to know a lot of my professors. I learned that speaking up is not a bad thing at all.”
While in the program Gonzalez worked as a teaching associate with Viviana Rodriguez, assistant professor of economics, and a research associate with Natassa Zervou, associate professor of economics. Both opportunities exposed her to what life as a faculty member could look like.
“I saw the work that my professors did, and I read their research,” said Gonzalez. “At a certain point I realized that I liked this field, and I knew I wasn’t going to stop at just a master’s degree. I told myself if I’m going somewhere, I’m going all the way.”
Gonzalez credits the Alvarez economics faculty with encouraging her and helping her navigate the PhD application process. Working with Rodrigo Velez, professor of economics, and Zervou she was encouraged to take the GRE, and they created a blueprint for making her dream a reality.
“I never thought I’d be able to do something like this, and to have a whole team behind me was amazing,” she said. “My professors have been nothing but supportive. I’m grateful for their assistance because I did not know where to start.”
Gonzalez’ academic focus will be in health economics. This area appealed to her because there are policy-relevant applications to the work, and it will allow her to explore a wide range of questions.
“Going back to high school I advocated a lot for mental health and getting resources on our school campus,” she said. “With health economics, I’m able to study a subject where I can positively impact other people as well.”
When Gonzalez makes the three-day trip to Durham, New Hampshire next fall it will be her first time living away from home. She shared that she is excited to be somewhere different, and she looks forward to meeting new people.
“I look forward to being able to grow academically as an economist,” said Gonzalez. “The faculty there are very passionate about health economics. That only fuels my excitement as well. I found that they were nerdy like me, and I knew we’d get along.”
Coming from a low-income school, Gonzalez shared that the administrators didn’t have much hope in the students. As an early college student, she was discouraged from taking an economics course for college credit because it was too hard.
“Their doubt was the main thing that fueled me,” she said. “I took the class and fell in love with economics — now I’ll be starting a PhD program. I want my sister and my brother to see that anything is attainable. I may be the first in my family to do so, but I won’t be the last one.”
— Wendy Frost
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