The University of North Florida has shown me what I want to be when I grow up, and given me all the tools I need to get there.

I came in to college as a wanderer with a lot of passion and nowhere to apply it. The first transformational experience that UNF afforded me was through the club Students without Borders. I traveled to Honduras for Spring Break in 2009. This was my first trip to a developing country and it taught me two things: that I loved international relations and that, even more so, I loved talking to people. Upon my return, I immediately declared an International Studies major, Social Welfare minor, and started taking Spanish classes. Through this club, I also started volunteering at the Sulzbacher Center, a homeless shelter in downtown Jacksonville. By the winter of my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to be in communities all around the world, helping in any way I could – and I learned all of this through a student club.

The academics offered at UNF intensified my newly discovered passion. Through my minor, I ventured out into the community both for class projects and internships. I have worked with PACE Center for Girls, an organization that helps at-risk girls, making a testimonial video on how PACE changes the lives of its clients. I have helped launch the Women and Girls Initiative for Dignity U Wear, an organization that helps families and children in need by providing them with brand new clothing, by conducting research and writing grants. The Sociology faculty at UNF has guided me through this entire process, including a directed independent study focusing on women in the social welfare system.

The International Studies major was no different. Through this major, I traveled to Costa Rica in the summer of 2010. I used my newfound  Spanish skills and submerged into a new culture. The classes I have taken prepared me for this and many more international adventures.

Through both my major and minor, I’ve learned that professors in a classroom can only teach you so much. UNF pushed me out into the world through internships, class projects and travel opportunities. It is through these types of experiences that I have truly learned.

The University has offered me so much outside the classroom. I have lived on campus all four years and was a resident assistant for more than a year. I believe in the power of community that the residence halls have to offer. I would not trade those experiences for anything because they truly helped round out my education.

Currently, I am the market day coordinator at the Student Union, and manage all things dealing with the weekly market. This job has taught me so much about leadership and creativity in the workplace. Every staff member of the Student Union has made an impact on my collegiate career equal to that of my classmates and professors.

Through UNF’s academics, clubs, housing and residence life and on-campus job opportunities, faculty and staff  have created a home for me. It really is the people who make UNF unique. I truly believe that on my first day here, there was no one like me. And now, after UNF has made me a much different person, I know there is no place like this.