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One Alumna’s Journey from UCF to HuffPost
By Jenna Marina Lee The day Lindsay Holmes ’12 moved into a tiny, way-uptown, three-bedroom apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, she still couldn’t believe she was there on a one-way ticket. “It sort of reminded me of what I felt like when I started at UCF. It almost felt like extended vacation […]
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Matchmaking for Brands and Bloggers
Kristen Wiley ’14 never imagined that just a few years after graduation she would be choosing between a dream job offer and starting her own business. Had she accepted the offer, Wiley’s salary would have been almost unheard of for recent graduates in the marketing field. Instead, she chose the title of CEO for her own […]
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Congratulations to the 2018 30 Under 30!
Last Friday, May 19, UCF Alumni hosted an award ceremony to recognize the 30 Under 30 alumni who have made an impact within their professions, communities and the university in the early stages of their careers. Eleven of the honored students are from the College of Sciences. Congratulations, alumni! Yazen Abdin ’12 Psychology Yazen […]
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2018 NFL Draft: Brought To You By UCF Alumni
While four Knights fulfilled lifelong dreams of hearing their names called during the 2018 NFL Draft, a pair of other Knights were working behind the scenes to capture every moment. Alumni Eric DeSalvo ’09 and Brandon Naidus ’12 are the maestros of the social media accounts for their respective teams. DeSalvo, who majored in interpersonal/organizational […]
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11 Students Honored For Women’s History Month
The College of Sciences is proud of our 11 female students who were recognized as outstanding student leaders for Women’s History Month. Congratulations to the awardees! Sarah Davenport, Anthropology “Seek positive mentorship. Mentorship from the McNair Program and my faculty mentor are the reasons why I have been able to achieve and exceed my […]
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Alumna Publishes Book During Perfect Season
Lori Levoy is UCF’s self-proclaimed biggest fan. She graduated from the Nicholson School of Communication in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communication. A former UCF student athlete, Levoy has maintained her love for UCF for more than 15 years. In 2017, during UCF’s perfect football season, that love motivated her to write and publish her own children’s […]
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Alumna Overcomes Eating Disorders to Help Others
by Jenna Lee On the surface, Kaitlyn Chana ’13 had it all together. In fact, she basically owned life. The former straight-A student at Lake Brantley High School started her own non-profit as a teenager that sent cards of kindness to hospitalized children. She was a member of UCF’s President’s Leadership Council, LEAD Scholars and […]
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UCF Alumnus Represents Home Country
Thirty years before he became the Counselor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington D.C., Luis Aparicio was an international student waiting to graduate from high school. His biggest dream was to attend college in the United States and study journalism. “I remember I requested over a dozen catalogs from U.S. […]
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The India Center Helps Send Debate Team Around the World
The weather in Orlando was chilly during the winter break, but the UCF Debate Team continued to heat up. Not only did the team compete at the Hurricane Debates hosted by the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, some of the team also traveled to India and participated in Calcutta’s Festival of the Spoken […]
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UCF Alumnus’ Drive to Champion Orlando Leads to NFL Pro Bowl
By Jenna Marina Lee During last year’s NFL Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports Steve Hogan ’91 had a unique perspective of the game. From the sidelines, he watched as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ children played catch with Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell […]
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Nicholson Grad Student Named 40 Under 40
Orlando Business Journal (OBJ) named UCF graduate student Libby Champion one of the community’s 40 Under 40 honorees. She was recognized for her work in bringing school communication into the digital world, particularly in her role as the Director of Communications at Montverde Academy. Champion redesigned the school’s biannual magazine “The Tower” and produced engaging […]
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Students Shift Goals to Help Others
Milka Derisma and her team, Cynthia Nnagboro and Kelly Merrill Jr., are all completing their master’s degrees in the Nicholson School of Communication, while simultaneously working to enact change in their community—starting with local college students. They created an initiative, BYG (Build Your Goals) Shift, focused on helping students transfer from two-year community colleges to […]
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A Knight’s Journey Sparks Profession and Philanthropy
Robert Aronoff ’92 intended to spend his first night on UCF’s campus in his car. To his surprise, he spent that warm August night sleeping on a couch in the head football coach’s office. Two days prior Aronoff arrived at the University of South Florida in Tampa to register for classes. After two days of […]
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Victory at Vanderbilt
The UCF Debate team is showing off its skills and earned several awards and trophies recently. On Oct. 13, 2017, Vanderbilt University hosted its annual invitational debate tournament. Brittany Bolger, Lauren Christie, Louis Dor, Anna Jurlina, Dveen Manoogian, Ariel Olson, Ethan Smith, Joe Tracey and Ethan Uhlig collectively competed at the invitational in both the novice and junior varsity divisions. Jurlina and Smith are freshmen; Bolger, Christie, […]
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14 Faculty Awarded for International Impact
UCF recognized 45 faculty members Wednesday during the university’s inaugural Luminary Award presentations for making an impact on the world. Fourteen of the recipients are College of Sciences faculty members. The event, themed like Oscar night, honored those who are academic leaders in their field and are making contributions to the world that are having […]
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Never Hug an Orangutan
UCF alumnus Paulo Maurin, Ph.D., shares tales of adventure in his newly-published book “The Hugging Orangutan Chase: Narrative of encounters with animals and people across the Hawaiian and Indonesian Archipelagos.” Maurin currently works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation program in Hawaii. During his first seven years, Maurin participated in […]
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Student Stories: When Your Apartment Floods due to a Hurricane
We’ve featured journalism student Isabelle D’Antonio’s first-hand account of what happened to her during Hurricane Irma. Her story was first published on the NSM Today website. by Isabelle D’Antonio I’ve lived in Florida for more than 11 years and I’ve never taken hurricanes seriously. They were always just an excuse to get out of school, eat […]
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From UCF to the White House
UCF alumna Jessica Fredericks ’07 is helping preserve American history as the new director of communications for the White House Historical Association. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy started the nonprofit association in 1961 to protect, preserve and provide public access to the rich history of America’s executive mansion. Fredericks said it is a dream job for her. […]
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Non-Profit Director by Day, Podcaster on Game Day
UCF alumnus Trace Trylko 94’ sends his love for UCF straight to the airwaves. Trylko co-hosts a podcast called Knightline with Andrew Phegley, who founded the show in 2014. Beginning August 31, you’ll find Trylko and Phegley taking calls live at BurgerU, just outside of Spectrum Stadium, after every home game. Knightline features UCF athletes […]
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Student Zooms With NASCAR This Summer
You might see Monica Matias’ powerful serve on the tennis court, but this summer she was driving around Daytona International Speedway. Matias, a Puerto Rico native who was recruited to play tennis at UCF, spent her summer rubbing shoulders with policy makers. The rising senior Human Communications major landed a position as a public affairs […]
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Student’s Fantasy Work Becomes Reality
by Gene Kruckemyer UCF senior Branden Hall hopes that one day Zeek St. Cloud finds his true purpose in life – but he knows that’s going to take thousands of years. Hall, who is majoring in creative writing and advertising/public relations, and his brother Horacio are enabling Zeek on his journey, and recently received an […]
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COSmic Knight Exposes Injustice
This week’s COSmic Knight aspires to do work that really matters to people. With a double major in political science and journalism, Sam Schiffer is a force to be reckoned with. His interest in how government operates began in his high school career. He was excelling in government and civics classes when he realized the importance of understanding government dictates the […]
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Knight Charges On to Graduation Despite Cancer Diagnosis
By Rachel Williams At 63 years old and after years of hard work, Cherie Carr had finally achieved her goal of earning a bachelor’s degree. She couldn’t wait to walk the stage at graduation. Then, everything changed. In the hospital three weeks ago for splitting headaches, shortness of breath and stomach pain, Carr got news […]
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COSmic Knight Took a Risk That Paid $5K
Funding your college career may be difficult, but Cristobal Reyes-Rios took a chance that won himself a scholarship. With a double major in journalism and political science, Reyes has a lot on his plate. He became interested in journalism in ninth grade when he took a journalism class and showed promise in news writing. He […]
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Video Games Takes Student to South Korea
This COSmic Knight took an opportunity that landed him halfway across the globe. Radio and television major, Justin Wilson, got his big breakthrough playing video games. He played video games professionally while at UCF from 2010-2012 and frequently participated in tournaments and competitions. In 2012, he retired from playing professionally but kept up with the […]
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COSmic Knight Gianna Mascaro is in Tune with her Passions
Gianna Mascaro’s ear for music blossomed on long car rides with her parents listening to Fleetwood Mac and The Rolling Stones. Since then, the ambitious digital news journalism major has joined numerous organizations to continue her career. She worked for Knight News as an entertainment writer, where she met new connections, experienced events and fine-tuned […]
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Student Finds UCF Connection in Texas
By Jenna Marina Nearly four years ago, UCF alumna Shelby Shankin ’13 found herself in Austin, Texas, for the first time in her life to work on mega festival South by Southwest. Justin Tejada is a current first-generation student majoring in advertising-public relations and minoring in political science. He has made it his mission to […]
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UCF Continues to Stand for Opportunity for AlumKnight Joan McCain
UCF attracts students for many different reasons: Spirit Splash, the luxurious pool, a state-of- the-art gym and tailgates at Memory Mall before football games. But when Outstanding AlumKnight Joan McCain chose UCF, none of that existed. She knew UCF would provide the opportunity, experiences and internships to launch her career in marketing and communications. “Instinct […]
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Father’s Day Tip of the Cap to UCF Alumnus, Longtime MLB Radio Announcer
Story by Jenna Marina UCF alumnus Vince Cotroneo ’83 has experienced some memorable moments during the past 25 years of his career as a radio broadcaster for Major League Baseball. His first opening day in 1991 with the Houston Astros. His first postseason game in 1997. His first inside-the-park home run call during the 2006 […]
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Content Creation Abroad
Story by Rachel Williams The University of Central Florida’s Nicholson School of Communication has earned a $25,000 grant that will enable students to study abroad and produce a multimedia communication project in Cuba next summer. The grant is from the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund that aims to help create university partnerships to […]