{"id":18282,"date":"2016-08-03T08:33:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T12:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=18282"},"modified":"2016-08-03T08:33:40","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T12:33:40","slug":"dog-days-of-summer-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/dog-days-of-summer-graduation\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Days of Summer Graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story by Jenna Marina, UCF Alumni<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Amanda

Amanda Overend ’16 and dog-in-training Ridley.<\/p><\/div>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Soon to be UCF Psychology<\/a> alumna, Amanda Overend takes pride in propagating what has become a life motto: \u201cHelp is a four-legged word.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Orlando native associates her college experience with volunteering \u2013 a passion she found five years ago.<\/p>\n

Her most recent philanthropic endeavor has been helping raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence<\/a>, a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs.<\/p>\n

UCF is the first public university in Florida to have an agreement with the organization and allow dogs to be raised on campus. Overend has trained three dogs: Deacon, Asland and her current golden-lab mix, Ridley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s had a huge impact on me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

So much so that she included the dogs\u2019 names on her cap and will have Ridley in the audience on graduation day along with her parents and best friend since middle school.<\/p>\n

Overend said it took her 11 years to earn her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology. In finding her way, she moved across the country and back, and changed degree paths several times from web design to biology to marketing and nursing before finally landing on\u00a0psychology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I switched to psychology, I fell in love once I found classes that I actually enjoyed,\u201d she said. \u201cUCF is home. My aunt went here, and I actually felt a part of the\u00a0department of psychology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she calls it a long journey, she values her experience at UCF and encourages others to use their time in college to explore who they are and what is important to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really not a race,\u201d she said. \u201cJust go at your own speed and find a degree that you truly feel passionate about. Not just one that is going to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

View original story, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Jenna Marina, UCF Alumni ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Soon to be UCF Psychology alumna, Amanda Overend takes pride in propagating what has become a life motto: \u201cHelp is a four-legged word.\u201d The Orlando native associates her college experience with volunteering \u2013 a passion she found five years ago. Her most recent philanthropic endeavor has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":18284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,38,4,13,22,25,29],"tags":[188,544,3621],"class_list":["post-18282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-breaking-news","category-departments","category-news","category-psychology-departments","category-staff-news","category-ucf-news","tag-amanda-overend","tag-canine-companions-for-independence","tag-ucf-psychology"],"yoast_head":"\nDog Days of Summer Graduation - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/dog-days-of-summer-graduation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dog Days of Summer Graduation - 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