I only applied to UWF, because that was kind of really the only place I wanted to go to. I really wanted to be somewhere near the coast and do some interesting research. I do research in the urban bayous of Pensacola, and I’m looking at spatial and temporal changes of the three urban bayous. I’ve just started my year-long study of them, and we go out every two months. I also swam for UWF this past year using my last year of NCAA eligibility.

Balancing my master’s of science and my competitive swimming at the NCAA Division II level, it was quite a job. I was very busy this past year running from the pool to classes, to trying to do research and write up a thesis proposal.

Everyone’s been extremely supportive of me being able to swim and go to school, which I’m extremely grateful for because I don’t think every school would be able to allow you to do that, especially at a master’s level.