Student Follows in Her Parents' Footsteps While Making Her Own Path

Even though she’s now walking on the same sidewalks her parents once strolled and sitting in the same class­rooms they once sat in, Rylee is on a path toward leaving her own mark at the university.

“That is definitely the plan! I love being involved,” she said. Rylee sings on the worship team and is part of the leadership team for the Baptist Student Ministry (which she says is her “favorite ministry ever.”) She sings with the Chapel band and led outreach for the 2023 Easter Pag­eant, which she’s participated in every year. Rylee works part-time in the University Relations office and attends all the sporting events she can. She joined the BSM Beach Reach team in Padre Island this past spring break, sharing rides and Jesus with beachgoers.

“The cool thing about UMHB is it gives you so many opportunities to serve people and to be the hands and feet of Jesus,” Rylee said.

After graduation, she plans to get a master’s degree and work as a child life specialist at a children’s hospital, comforting children and parents during difficult times.

“I obviously grew up around a lot of youth, and I’ve always loved kids and teenagers,” she said. “As a child life specialist, I’ll deal with all kinds of kids—from those who just need a band-aid to those in critical condition. I think it’s such a cool way to share Jesus and tell them God is good.”

She says two things impacted her heart in a big way when she was growing up—a mission trip to Africa and the unique family her mom and dad built, which includes three younger adopted siblings and Dorothy, a 61-year-old former homeless drug addict that Rylee’s mom be­friended years ago while on a church trip.

“My mom has always had a big heart for people who need to be loved, and it’s something she instilled in me,” Rylee said. “God put us together so purposefully. I grew up in a family where we don’t care if you’re biologically related to us or not; you’re our family.”

As for the mission trip to Africa when Rylee was in middle school, it was a “life-changing experience.”

“At that point, I was going through a bratty phase. I was start­ing to get entitled—like I was owed things.”

For two weeks in South Africa, Rylee served at a high school where she describes the students she encountered as “the salt of the earth and light of the world.”

“These kids were walking 10-plus miles to get to school, barefoot, and they were smiling the whole way!” she remembers, still in disbelief. “These kids were just grateful that they got to go to school; it’s a joy you’ve never seen before here in America. We don’t think about how blessed we are. And because we’ve been so blessed with our lives, why would we not want to go and serve people who aren’t?”

After being at UMHB for two years, Rylee admits she’s met many people who knew her parents while they were at UMHB and occasional­ly gets asked the once-feared ques­tion: If she’s “Kyle’s daughter.” But the dread of being known only by the impressions her parents left at their alma mater has actually turned into a blessing for her.

“I think it’s really sweet now when people come up to me and ask about my parents,” she con­fesses. “I’m so lucky to have them, and it makes me happy that other people know how amazing my parents are.”