0:05 I am class of 1985, class of 2022, class
0:08 of 2011, 2021, 
0:11 2016, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2003, 2010, 2008, class 
0:17 of 
0:21 2007. Personally it's a home away from 
0:23 home honestly. I love being able to go 
0:25 back and um see the old stomping ground. 
0:28 I met a lot of people, uh met a lot of
0:30 great friends, a lot of great professors,
0:32 a lot of great mentors, and influences.
0:35 Personally I met so many friends that I
0:36 still have to this day. Some of my best
0:38 friends uh that I've had relationships
0:40 since we met in '06 there. We're still
0:42 great friends today. We go to each
0:43 other's weddings, we do vacations
0:45 together. My family is very close to me
0:47 so when I moved away from home to come
0:48 here for school, it was you know pretty
0:50 nervous and it was a big deal to me um
0:52 but I quickly found a home away from
0:54 home here at
0:56 UWF. Professionally I stayed in town, was
0:59 able to have great networks and
1:01 connections that I got from the
1:02 University. I walked out of WUWF ready
1:06 for my career field which was in
1:08 journalism and public relations.
1:10 Currently I serve as vice president of
1:11 development for a healthcare real estate
1:14 developer and it wasn't for that
1:15 relationship at UWF, I wouldn't be where
1:17 I'm at today. I mean I would say I pretty
1:20 much owe everything I've got to the
1:22 education that I got there so I owe a
1:24 lot to UWF. I think UWF really prepared me
1:28 for the real world as far as everyone
1:30 there was very supportive and was able
1:32 to get me to where I am today. I owe a
1:34 lot to UWF. All of my professors I still
1:37 have relationships with them in my
1:39 career um there's longevity there. And
1:42 now I feel like UWF helped me become who
1:45 I am and now I am helping UWF with the
1:48 marketing and events and you know
1:50 telling everyone about my experience so
1:52 that way they can have it
1:56 too. UWF helped me a lot because it
1:59 showed
2:00 me something I was missing when it came
2:02 to education that there's people out
2:04 there that cared um about you and what
2:07 you came to do what you're going to do
2:08 in the future. A lot of universities I
2:10 think maybe are not able to grow or
2:14 pursue the growth that we have here at
2:16 UWF. They're sort of top heavy and and
2:19 kind of stuck where they are where UWF
2:20 is in a constant state of evolution and
2:23 so I think it's really cool to go
2:25 somewhere and grow there yourself but
2:27 also grow along with the University that
2:29 you're at. This is definitely a school
2:31 that is about uplifting their students
2:34 and no matter where you're from, no
2:36 matter what you want to do there's a
2:38 place for you here at UWF and you can
2:40 thrive and you can grow and be the
2:42 person that you want to
2:47 be.