FALL 2021
What is our Legacy?
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY QUELA REYES
10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
PHOTO BY UCF
Painter adds finishing touches to the John T. Washington Mural. According to UCF archives, Washington was an associate professor of sociology at UCF from the mid ‘70s to the early ‘80s, when he was one of the first Black faculty members.
CONTENTS 4. Legacy of Centric
6. Watch Your Tone/hj
8. Plants for Wannabe Plant Parents 12. Winning in More Ways Than One
7. What's in
9. Citronaut to Knightro 14. A Shove to Tradition
18. Cheering to the Top
20. From Rose
22. A Community Reflects on Pulse’s 2 | FA L L 2 0 2 1
EDITOR’S LETTER We as a staff felt the high stakes of representing Centric magazine’s 10th anniversary. As we spent the semester reporting on our UCF community and sharing stories of beloved Knights — both here and gone but never forgotten — I think of my own time at UCF. I think of how nerve wrecked I felt as a confused math major sitting in linear and matrix algebra. I think of the ups and downs that ultimately led me to switch majors and brought me to this position — to this letter.
a Name 10. A Plate Away From Home 16. Can Happiness be Taught? to Butterfly Impact
24. Turning Pointe
The connection between myself and past Centric editors can be seen as nothing more than a title, but I think of the shared experiences: the laughs, late nights and hard work. I’ll think of the staff — my friends — and the fun we had creating this issue. Most of all, I’ll think of the mark we leave as the creators of Centric’s 10th annual issue — and the mark it will leave on us. MELISSA PEREZ-CARRILLO
BY CLARA MELO DE PAULA
Every fall semester journalism students join UCF’s Magazine Production and Editing course to create a magazine for students, by students. Professor Rick Brunson was the Centric adviser and associate instructor from 2011 to 2020. He created the class dedicated to publishing Centric magazine in 2011 with the help of Robert Chandler, the former Nicholson School of Communication and media director . Brunson recalled the moment the idea was first proposed. “There’s always been an interest among our students in magazines as a medium. The course itself had been on the books in the curriculum for the journalism program for a very long time, at least back into the ‘90s.” “But around 2010, the Nicholson School Director at the time, Dr. Robert Chandler, invited me one day to go to a luncheon with him. On our way to the luncheon, he looked at me and said ‘Rick, why can’t we have a magazine? Like our own magazine in the Nicholson School?’
“And I said ‘Well, Dr. Chandler, there is no reason we can’t. Are you willing to pay for it?’ Because it takes money to print a magazine. He said we can front the money. And we had a class, but the class at the time was like an industry survey class. Dr. Chandler’s idea, however, was to make a magazine, so the class went from taking a big survey of the magazine industry to a production class. So in 2011, we launched the class and that’s what it became — we produced a magazine.” Former managing editors and an editorin-chief recall what Centric taught them, whether they continued with journalism or chose another path.
PHOTO BY CLARA MELO DE PAULA; OPPOSITE: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTESY OF CENTRIC MAGAZINE, COURTESY OF RACHEL WILLIAMS, COURTESY OF ADAM RHODES, COURTESY OF KELLI ORDONIA, COURTESY OF RACHEL STUART, COURTESY OF DANIELLA MEDINA, COURTESY OF ALLISON MIEHL
Legacy of Centric
Rachel Stuart Fall 2015
Daniella Medina Fall 2019
Allison Miehl Fall 2016
Rachel Williams Fall 2014
“I look back at my time at Centric and it was such a pivotal moment, not just at UCF, but in my life as a journalist right now. You just learn so much and you don’t have to be the managing editor to get the experience I got ... if you are just seeing the whole process, it’s realworld experience, you guys are doing what people in the real world are doing.”
“For my career, it was a great thing to add to my resume because not a lot of colleges offer magazine journalism so when you can take it, it really stands out to recruiters ... Being editor-in-chief, specifically, helped me lead a group of people. In my current job, I have led like three or four projects and they always are impressed by how young I am.”
“I would say Centric definitely taught me to plan ahead but don’t stick so rigidly to your plan to where it’s detrimental to your product. Because you can make all the plans you want and think you have it all figured out, but things come up and things change. Sometimes when you are flexing to those changes is when the best things come out.”
“Centric taught me a lot. Personally, it just reaffirmed that I am in the right industry. It taught me how to take a story idea and bring it to life. You have to think about how you are going to tell a story in such a way that will resonate with your target audience and that’s a lesson I use every day in my job.”
Kelli Shadik Spring 2011 “It was probably one of the first times I was in a position to lead a team on a project so there was a lot of having to listen to different opinions and having to de-escalate some situations where there was tension. It actually does give a lot of good real-world experience and I understand why Brunson wanted to actually make a magazine so we get to live that experience.”
Adam Rhodes Spring 2014 “Centric, first of all, helped me build my confidence in a way that I know how the news industry works. To a certain extent, it is just a class magazine but you are going through the motions that every magazine goes through. You are proofing things. You are coordinating with writers, and you are doing everything that Times or Atlantic do but on a much different scale.”
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Watch Your Tone/hj BY LIANA PROGAR
What are tone tags? Cybertext lacks body language, facial expression and tone inflection — cues that reflect meaning. Tone tags are abbreviations of words that describe what a digital sentence is intended to mean or the tone it should be read in.
Who uses tone tags? They benefit neurodivergent individuals, those who struggle to decipher the tone of a sentence and want their words to be clear. Examples: /j = joking /hj = half-joking /s = sarcastic /srs = serious /nsrs = not serious /lh = light-hearted /g or /gen = genuine
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One day, Kurt Ramos is scrolling through Reddit when he sees a post about people waiting hours in line and spending hundreds of dollars on a new Supreme collection drop. Intending to be funny, Ramos comments, “These hype beasts are going stupid for this collection.” The chat moderator thought Ramos was saying that the hype beasts have disabilities, and that those with disabilities are stupid, so they temporarily banned Ramos. Ramos, a UCF alumnus, has Asperger’s syndrome and was referencing a meme. However, the moderator didn’t know this. A misunderstanding occurred because the moderator couldn’t read Ramos’ tone — a 16th century issue that’s still being resolved. Since the beginning of written language, people have been working to better indicate the emotion and intent of written sentences. According to “Clash of Symbols: A Ride Through the Riches of Glyphs,” in the 1580s, printer Henry Denham tried to popularize the “percontation point,” a backwards question mark that would indicate a rhetorical question. Fast forward to the advent of the computer age, and emoticons and emojis were introduced. However, even those can have different meanings than what they suggest. Thus, tone tags entered the 21st century chat room. Although they are not new, they have gained traction recently on Twitter, Tumblr, TikTok and Discord, assisting those with autism spectrum disorder and others that are neurodivergent. “People with ASD don’t naturally develop the ability to interpret other people’s feelings or to understand people who have a different perspective,” said Terri Daly, Director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Tone tags clarify what a digital sentence means, preventing misunderstandings. For example, it’s common for people to say they’re “crying” when they find something
extremely funny. Since others cannot hear the poster laughing, adding “/j” directly to the end of the sentence clarifies that the person is joking and not actually crying. In Ramos’ situation, tone tags could’ve prevented the moderator from temporarily blocking him. Having used tone tags since 2016, Ramos has found he primarily benefits from others' use of the tags. “It’s helped me understand people’s overall intention and realize no one is actually mad at me,” Ramos said. While tone tags are meant to make the internet more accessible, they should only be used if a sentence can be interpreted in different ways. Overusing tone tags can seem condescending and annoying, making the receiver feel like a child who doesn’t understand anything. Mack Brueggemann, a junior kinesiology major, began using tone tags in October 2021, making it easier for him to express his tone and minimize misunderstandings. “Clarity is power”, “It could be helpful in getting rid of some forms of miscommunication and clarify things better.” Brueggemann said. Online users will often include if they would like tone tags used in communication with them or if they do not. Things like pronoun inclusions and trigger warnings have been normalized, and over time, the use of tone tags could be too. “It doesn’t cost anything, and it doesn’t take a lot longer,” Daly said. “If it’s something that helps people, then it’s something to consider.”
Being named after someone who has passed away isn’t easy, but Oteisha Barrett continues to carry on her brother’s legacy through her name.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OTEISHA BARRETT
BY ELAINIE BARRAZA “I had an older brother who, when my mom was about six months pregnant with me, was traveling with some friends and ended up getting into a fatal car accident. His name was Otis. When my mom had me, she wanted to honor him and named me Oteisha. I don’t know many people who lose a child while bringing another one into the world. My mom is a really strong person for doing that.” “It’s a badge of honor to have his name intertwined with mine. It’s crazy because growing up, I didn’t like my name. Before I knew the meaning of it, I was upset because my siblings have more traditional names. Once my mom told me the story, it made me really grow an appreciation for my name, and now, it’s my favorite thing about me.” “[Otis] was about 22 when he passed, so he was my age now. It’s a privilege to be able to be here and do things he may have been able to do. It kind of feels like I’m living for the both of us, and I’m carrying our legacy and family name.” “It’s a lot of pressure sometimes because I feel like I’m living for two people, which makes me a lot harder on myself. On average, when someone does something that they’re not really good at, they might brush it off or move on to
the next thing. It hits me really hard because I feel like I have to be good at everything. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a perfectionist, so sometimes, living for two makes me a little overwhelmed. I have to remember the end goal — where I’m trying to go and who I’m really doing it for.” “I’m the youngest of my parents’ children, so sometimes, I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, I technically don’t have a legacy.’ For me, it’s been even more important to establish something. One of my biggest fears is that the family culture and my family dynamic will die with me. Being the only one that wasn’t born in Jamaica, I’m never going to experience a lot of the stories my parents told me and be able to tell my kids or grandkids about them. My mindset is that I want to establish myself as much as possible so that I don’t have to worry about that legacy dying or my culture dying. It’s a lot about the people that come after me. Who else would you be doing it for?”
“
“
What's in a Name?
One of my biggest fears is that the family culture will die with me.
Plants for Wannabe Plant Parents BY JAZMINE HAWKINS
String of Pearls Pothos
Plants for People Who Overwater Monstera and Pothos plants need to be watered once the top of the soil starts drying out. Both thrive with bright, indirect sunlight. Some pothos can grow up to 10 feet long, with vines even climbing walls. If kept indoors, make sure to mist the monstera plant once a week.
Plants for People Who Underwater Succulents, like Snake Plants and String of Pearls, along with lavender need to be nearly dried out between watering. Allow six hours of direct sunlight for succulents and full sun for lavender.
Snake Plant
Lavender Monstera
PAGE: ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY FERGUSON; OPPOSITE: ILLUSTRATION BY VICTOR DAVILA
Former plant killer and current plant parent, Natasha Dean, waited among other plant parents, killers and hopeful first-timers. The line for the UCF Arboretum plant sale stretched as students awaited the chance to keep something alive. “Some of them are thriving; some of them aren’t doing too well,” Dean said as she questioned why her hibiscus was drooping. Students like Dean go to the Arboretum for the plants and a nice place to relax; other students go for a home away from home. Across campus, you can find many students, like Fabiana Antezana, who have a chosen family. “I didn’t really know anybody but coming over [to the Arboretum] — everyone has received me with open arms,” Antezana, an environmental studies major and Arboretum intern, said. The Arboretum staff has become a found family for students who work there, and its become a rewarding experience for personal growth. Maximillion Meader, a senior biology major and green house co-coordinator, has been involved with the Arboretum since 2019. For Meader, the Arboretum helps students with personal development. “I would be a completely different person if I hadn’t had this experience,” Meader said. “I feel like a lot of people here can say that.” Family and home are synonymous for Kathryn Badolato, a senior environmental studies major and Arboretum intern. “I’m always here so it’s kind of like another home,” Badolato said. “If I'm not doing classes or at my apartment, I’m here.”
Citronaut to Knightro Over the past 53 years, UCF has had eight mascots — each leading to the current iconic knight that we know and love. BY NINA MURILLO
Vincent the Vulture was an actual vulture that flew around campus in 1969 and had a “Vultermania” fanbase.
Sir Wins-A-lot was introduced in the early '80s and was knighted at a football game by former UCF President Trevor Colbourn.
With a majority student vote, the Knights of Pegasus became the official mascot in May 1970.
Mack the Knight made his appearance on the university’s 25th anniversary in 1989.
The Citronaut was introduced in 1968; students were still not thrilled and continued to submit redesigns to the school.
Inspired by the Disney film, Puff the Dragon was introduced in 1987. Disney even provided a costume for the school.
In 1994, everyone’s favorite knight, Knightro, made his debut alongside the UCF cheer team with his counterpart Glycerin (center); their costumes were designed by a Disney developer.
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A Plate Away From Home How cóm tâm connects a student to his culture. BY LIANA PROGAR
School has just ended in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. On his way home, Thai Hua hears the usual hustle and bustle of the city. A moped zooms off in the distance, and people chatter loudly over their meals. He sees people going about their daily lives as smoke fills the air from nearby food stall grills. He smells various foods from the food stalls lining the street, but to him, the most alluring smell of all is cóm tâm. Cóm tâm is a common street food in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, that was developed after bad rice seasons. Grains of rice broken by harvesting and rice mills were used by farmers to create cóm tâm. Hua, a freshman mechanical engineering major, moved from Vietnam to the U.S. four years ago. For him, cóm tâm isn’t just a meal: It’s a reminder of home; it’s joy, happiness and comfort. Hua began cooking cóm tâm and has been experimenting with his own version of the dish for six months. Hua doesn't cook too often, but when he does, his go-to meal is cóm tâm. “The pork, the sweet part of the sauce, the pickled carrot and daikon — also the freshness of the vegetables and the steamy rice — it’s something that represents all aspects of the city.” Hua said. Cóm tâm is a simple yet “humble” dish, and it’s a great way to try something new without spending too much.
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The ingredients are easy to find, and the dish is easy to modify, as Ho Chi Minh City and Hua have shown. In the city, cooks may add fried egg or sausage to the dish to appeal to foreign travelers. “Every time I go out to the street, I would smell the smoke from the grilled pork that street vendors were making, and it would make me hungry every time,” Hua said. Hua was introduced to cóm tâm through his family one day in Ho Chi Minh City. Hua loved the dish and knew he had to cook it himself. Sometimes, Hua cooks cóm tâm with his mother. Dividing the tasks, the mother and son pair would enjoy each other’s company, bringing them closer. Cóm tâm not only strengthens the mother-son bond, but it also unites his whole family as well. When he was little, Hua’s family would get up early to drive to his grandparents' house in Vietnam’s countryside, often skipping breakfast. After the car ride, his family would stop at a restaurant in the Tien Giang Province to get cóm tâm, one of the family’s favorite foods. “Overall, it is a great dish that holds a special place in my heart,” Hua said. “There is nothing like a humble but tasty plate of cóm tâm.”
INSTRUCTIONS INGREDIENTS RICE • • • • •
3 cups of jasmine rice Tomatoes Cucumber Lettuce 3/4 cup water
PORK
ILLUSTRATION BY DONALD HUGHES
• • • • • • • • • • • •
2lb bone-in pork chops (about ½ inch thick) 2 tbsp. vegetable oil 2 tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. fish sauce 2 tbsp. condensed milk 2 tbsp. oyster sauce 2 tbsp. minced garlic 2 tbsp. sugar 2 tbsp. chicken bouillon 2 tbsp. salt 2 tbsp. black pepper 1 ½ cup orange juice
PICKLED VEGETABLES • • • • • • • •
1 tsp. salt ¼ cup sugar ½ cup white vinegar 1 tsp. white vinegar (separated) ½ cup water 1 tsp. water (separated) 1 carrot 1 daikon radish
SAUCE • • • • •
3 tbsp. fish sauce 1 tbsp. water 1 tbsp. sugar ½ of a lime (optional) Thai chili peppers (optional)
PREPARING RICE
MIXING SAUCE
1.
1.
2.
3. 4.
Fill a rice cooker with rice, then wash thoroughly with water, swirling the rice around. Pour out starchy water and repeat the washing process three times. Add water to the pot Cook according to rice cooker’s instructions.
MAKING SCALLION OIL 1.
COOKING PORK 1.
2.
Mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, condensed milk, sugar, minced garlic and vegetable oil in a big bowl. Add salt, pepper and chicken bouillon. Add pork chops to the mixture. Pour in the orange juice, mix again, cover with plastic wrap and marinate overnight. Grill pork over medium-high heat, turning frequently until a nice, brown color is achieved. Use marinade to baste in the process.
In a small bowl, mix fish sauce, water, sugar and optionally the juice of half a lime and Thai chilli peppers. Adjust to your liking.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Cut the scallions, then add to hot oil. Mix continuously until the scallions are softened. Take off heat and pour into a small bowl.
SERVING 1.
Place rice, grilled pork, pickled carrots and daikon and sliced vegetables on different sections of the plate. Spoon scallion oil over the rice and pork to your liking. Put the sauce in a small bowl and add the desired amount.
PICKLING VEGETABLES 1.
2.
Soak and wash daikon and carrots in salt, vinegar and water for 5-10 minutes, and drain. Prepare a pickling solution of sugar, ½ cup vinegar and 1 ½ cup water. Put carrots and daikon in a jar, and add in the pickling solution. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, the longer the better.
SCALLION OIL • •
2 medium scallion stalks (sliced) ½ cup vegetable oil
CENTRIC MAGAZINE | 11
PAGE: PHOTO BY TOMÁS DINIZ SANTOS; OPPOSITE: COURTESY OF HEATHER SCHULZ
Heather Schulz has run 40 marathons, but sharing a passion with her daughter is her greatest win.
Winning in More Ways Than One For UCF alumna Heather Schulz, it runs in the family. BY BRITTANY CALDWELL
The early morning air is cool with a charge of energy, perfect for a run. UCF alumna Heather Schulz stretches out at the starting line of UCF’s U Can Finish 5-mile race on Oct. 17, 2021. Once the air horn blows, she takes off, putting one foot in front of the other. Her goal is to take it easy, coming off the heels of her 40th marathon. “Just remember, have fun, and enjoy the experience.” That’s what Heather tells her daughter, Amber Schulz, when she is worried about making a specific time or placing before running a race. Amber is grateful for the nudge to step back and remember that everything will be okay — no matter what the race result is. With all that Amber has accomplished, from qualifying for the track and field Junior Olympics to her state-level performances, it has been a difficult journey. After overcoming an eating disorder from seventh grade to her sophomore year of high school, she got injured, and her mom was her rock. “Having my mom, who is in the sport of running, understand that there was so much pressure to live up to this certain standard ... It was good to have a mom that could help guide me through [my eating disorder] ... Everybody
has their own different paths, and she really helped guide me through that,” she said. Understanding and witnessing the physical and mental toll of running has led Heather and Amber to lean on each other for support and discuss what truly matters. “We should be happy and feel blessed that we can go out and do this and just enjoy the moment and not put pressure on ourselves because running isn’t all about winning and being the fastest,” Heather said. “It’s about longevity, passion for the sport and inspiring others.” Heather continues to inspire others today. Her Instagram page took off in 2012, and she realized a lot of runners were motivated by her updates. Amber started her social media platform as @amberunz and encouraged her mom to rename her account to @heatherunz. They’ve been sharing their journeys and seeing the impact of their inspirational messages on the running community ever since, with over 100,000 followers combined. The mother and daughter duo continue to share the same passion, and Amber said this running lifestyle has brought them closer together. “I could never imagine not having my mom that’s always running because it’s kind of our thing,” Amber said. While Heather introduced running to her daughter early on by bringing her along to her races, she didn’t force it on her. Her parenting style focused on having fun and discovering natural skills. She emphasized that their bond would’ve been just as strong if Amber was interested in a different passion, which Amber appreciates. “My mom was very open to me doing other sports and trying new things, and I did running for a while; I actually ended up taking a break for a little bit as well,” Amber said. “And I think just her approach to making it fun and not having a lot of pressure — it really
just made me love this sport for what it is and not just because I felt like I had to do it because my mom did it.” Amber has committed to High Point University in North Carolina, where she’ll continue to run crosscountry and track with a healthier perspective. As for Heather, she’ll continue to run and show her daughter the resilience she has toward the sport. “It's about being the best you can be on that day — no matter what it is — even if you're not in shape and inspiring others ... ,” Heather said. “We're all going to face challenges in life, but that doesn't mean that you don't keep pursuing what you love to do; it doesn't mean that you give up.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF UCF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Spirit Splash is an honored tradition, but how did it start? Jennifer Alvarez (far right) cheers with her fellow sorority sisters as they wade into the pond in 1995.
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A SHOVE TO TRADITION
An eyewitness account of Spirit Splash's origin. BY RANDY VUXTA
It's early November 1995, and Luis Cruz is surrounded by crowds of students who’ve gathered for UCF’s annual pep rally. Cruz suddenly hears a splash — the ‘95 student government president is shoved into the pond. Shortly after, Cruz’s brother, Nick Cruz, gets pushed in. After checking on Nick and laughing at him covered in pond water, Cruz and the crowd get an idea. “We said to ourselves ‘Well, they can’t get mad at all of us if we go in’,” said Jennifer Alvarez, Cruz’s girlfriend at the time. And in they went. A group of roughly 30 students sprung into the Reflecting Pond. While it may seem like a refreshing way to spend a November day in Florida, the Reflecting Pond was anything but refreshing back then, Alvarez said. “The water was green and filled with leaves, and they never cleaned the Reflecting Pond,” Alvarez said. “It was gross, but we didn't mind because we were having fun.” A year later, a group of students would go into the Reflecting Pond again. The year after that, the homecoming board decided to make it an official event, and Spirit Splash was born. Before Spirit Splash, there was a pep rally, and the only people who would attend were Greek life, a fact that came to no surprise to Greek students Alvarez and Cruz. “Back then, there was no pride in being at UCF,” Cruz said. “All the homecoming events were held by Greek life.” This was in part due to the competition hosted by Greek life, where each Greek house competed to win the “most spirited” title each year. The winner got bragging rights until homecoming the next year, which is why Cruz and Alvarez attended the pep rally — for spirit points. The pep rally was held next to the Reflecting Pond, and if it was up to Alvarez, she would have skipped the event.
“The pep rally was really the most boring part of homecoming week,” Alvarez said. “It was just the cheerleaders doing their routines, and that was it.” Spirit Splash would go on to grow into UCF’s signature celebration during homecoming week, something that shocked both Cruz and Alvarez. “When we went in, we didn’t think it would turn into this big, new thing,” Cruz said. “We were just being dumb college kids.” This wasn’t the first time students went into the pond. Cheerleaders did ask students to get into the water in 1994, according to UCF archives. However, the notoriety of the SG president being shoved in has set 1995 as the precedent for splashes to come. Before the pep rally in 1995, the SG went around to each Greek house to figure out how to raise school spirit. “The SGA president came to our body meeting and asked us to find a way to get normal students involved,” Alvarez said. Two years later, Kelli Belfatto, the Pep Rally Director for Homecoming ‘97, sat at her desk tasked with coming up with a way to make a new school tradition. Every year, it seemed people would skip the pep rally to attend Gator Growl, the pep rally hosted by the University of Florida for its homecoming week. Belfatto remembered seeing people go into the Reflecting Pond in ‘95, and decided to put a name on that. “We want a tradition; we want something, let's name it,” Belfatto said. “It's something that's going to happen. Let's make it something.” Administration was hesitant at first due to the Reflecting Pond sanitation upkeep. When Belfatto heard it was just an issue of funds, she quickly found the money in the homecoming budget. “If it's just a money issue, I came up with a solution, and they said ‘Okay, if you pay for it, sure,’” Belfatto said. Spirit Splash has continued to grow, attended
by thousands and earning the title of Best University Tradition in the State by the National Association for Campus Activities. Instead of being weary to go into the green water, students wait at the edge of the Reflecting Pond to run into the clear, clean water. The new event, which is held the Friday of every homecoming week, replaced the pep rally. Cheerleaders still do their routines, football players come out and dance around and students get a designed shirt. The biggest difference is the ducks, something both Alvarez and Cruz knew nothing about. At the event, people throw ducks to the students in the Reflecting Pond, and catching one is said to bring luck to the person as well as a serious payday with some selling for over $100. As for Cruz and Alvarez, they recently celebrated their 20th anniversary together. The two live in the Orlando area, have three daughters and cheer for the Knights as often as they can. However, one thing they haven’t celebrated but are hoping to experience is an official Spirit Splash. “Each year, I consider taking that Friday off and going to see what it has become,” Cruz said. “Just to walk around and say to myself ‘Hey, I helped start this.’”
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Can Happiness be Taught? It all starts from within. BY DANIELA VIVAS LABRADOR UCF professor Elizabeth Grauerholz created the curriculum for her Sociology of Happiness course as a call from her own life journey. “I was at this point of my life and started thinking about the meaning of life, what it means to be happy — to live a fulfilled life,” Grauerholz said. “And I got to thinking, ‘This is what young people need to know; they need to be asking these questions.’”
Sociology of Happiness, which she has been teaching for the past year, refers to the study of how culture shapes people’s happiness, an angle not often taken within the sociology field, Grauerholz said. “The typical focus in sociology is more on social problems … the happiness study is sort of like ‘Let’s look at the other side,’” she said. “What is it that makes a community happy? A group? An individual? How can we shape our culture, our economy, our families and our educational system to contribute to that well-being?” The Struggle: To Be Happy or Content? Measuring happiness has been shown to not be anywhere close to how easy it is to measure social issues’ impact on people. There is not a certain way to identify whether a college campus is happier than another, not even by how many students seek to improve their own mental health, Grauerholz said. “Happiness is hard, and I think we could almost do a disservice by even suggesting that everyone should be happy,” Jocelyn Buhain, associate director of Clinical Services at UCF Counseling and Psychological Services, said. “I think it could almost set an unreasonable expectation because there are so many factors that go into people’s lives, and while happiness is great, that may be a challenge.” According to Buhain, there has been an evident upward trend in the total number of students interested and willing to seek
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counseling, which is a positive trend to see. Yet, this is not an indicator of happiness on campus. “[It] is complicated as a construct,” Buhain said. “While happiness is a nice ideal, even the idea of being content could be more realistic as content would be more of a state of being. Happiness is like an emotion that can come and go, so I don’t know if there is a direct correlation between our trends of numbers and our students’ happiness; I think that may be a stretch,” she said. But there are more UCF professors and members of the UCF community trying to inspire this happiness journey in others. Theatre senior lecturer Sybil St. Claire has been teaching at UCF for 19 years, but this is the first semester she is teaching Thrive: The How of Happiness online course, which was inspired by her own search for happiness. “Turns out I have an autoimmune disease that has been quite nasty,” she said. “I was having a lot of trouble feeling good about things when I felt so bad. I was curious about how I could take charge of my attitude and my life when I have this very
ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY FERGUSON
It’s Never Too Early This change is not only being ignited at the college level, but also at the elementary school level. Joyce Nichols, a first grade teacher in Orlando and UCF alumna, shared how she incorporates mindfulness to enhance kids’ emotional and social development. The switch in her approach started back in the ‘90s when she started experimenting with disciplines such as tai chi and yoga. “I realized how movement in my body calmed me down and realized that movement in kids’ bodies could do the same,” she said. Now, she allows her students to freely experiment with any emotion they might be going through during the day, but she also teaches them to navigate through it in a safe, mindful way. Whether that means doing a breathing exercise or sitting down on the “tantrum towel” and laying on the floor in the classroom space designated for these situations, Nichols ensures her students completely explore their emotions. “The whole goal is for them not to need me coaching them through it,” Nichols said. “They need to be aware of that stuff on their own.” Happiness in Action UCF graduate student John Weston said he took Grauerholz’s Sociology of Happiness class spring 2021 and felt he was getting
happier as the semester progressed. “I had never had that addition of also improving as a person in the class,” Weston said. “The biggest takeaway from it was how important relationships are and spending time with people, so whether you’re doing that online or joining clubs or just going out of your way to make friends and connect with people, it ultimately all came down to forming relationships.”
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One could say that the only time you can be happy is right now. There is this idea of this immediacy of it too, it’s not something in the future, it’s not something in the past, it’s something that is right now. Sybil St. Claire, senior lecturer of theatre at UCF School of Performing Arts
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oppressive thing that is changing my life and not for the better.” After years of experience, she developed a three-prompt philosophy for how she teaches: “education should be fun, play is a form of research and we learn best at what we do.” She uses that philosophy as her guide while she looks at empirical scientific research through an art-space lens and creates an experiential exploration of happiness through in-class workshops and self-reflection activities. “The way that I [teach] builds community, creates friends, combines science and art,” St. Claire said. “It helps us think about our thinking, prevents hedonic adaptation, which is this idea of taking things and people for granted, and promotes mindfulness which is this idea of being here now. Ultimately, the journey is [the student's]. I’m just a facilitator of experiences.”
Regardless, Buhain said therapy could be helpful. It's just not an easy, happiness- guaranteed process. “Sometimes, people go to therapy, and it changes them; they end up making big life changes,” Buhain said. “Sometimes, it’s not immediately happiness. It could be like ‘I’m not in a healthy relationship; I’m going to have to break up,’ and the person is sad. Eventually, when they get through the sadness or loss, then they can find happiness or peace.” Buhain said the fact that professors and the UCF community are now paying attention to these topics will have a positive effect on students in the long run. “It’s fantastic that UCF offers those types of courses to our students,” she said. “Any course that talks about mental health is a great course. Oftentimes mental health is either a taboo topic culturally speaking or one that gets ignored, so any course that offers students the opportunity to learn, reflect, develop and grow is a valuable course.”
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Cheering to the Top
How Coach Linda Gooch rose from cheerleader to head coach. BY KASYN GIVENS
Centric Magazine: What’s the biggest challenge the team faced?
CM: What’s the biggest difference in the uniforms? Coach: “Wow. For one thing, today’s uniforms actually have our school on the front of it. If you look at the early uniforms, it might’ve said knights on there, but a lot of the uniforms had nothing on the front. Cheerleading uniforms have
CM: What new legacy/impact from the team present day will stay for generations to come? Coach: “We just have some really great people, some really nice people and that makes it so much fun to come into practice. When you're just working with a great group of folks that are supportive of each other, they celebrate and are happy to see ... their teammates achieve things and do well even if it’s not them. When I look at the leadership of our seniors — they’re the ones that drive that. That's a legacy that they’re going to leave, and that’s something that those young ones will carry forward.” CM: How have the skills and rules changed? Coach: “I joke all the time because I will tell our team that my generation of cheerleading
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was responsible for all of the rules. Because we were doing all the really scary stuff when there were no rules, the rules have become more stringent and for a reason. When people are left to their own devices, their goal is to get height. During the ‘80s, it was all about how high can you get and how high can you build pyramids. You're building things that are really too high. We joke and call them the UCF rules because a part of being successful sometimes means you got to be creative and push the envelope. We would push the envelope on certain things and people would go ‘That's really cool; you can win.’ But then they make it illegal the next year because it’s one of those disclaimers: ‘Please don't try this at home.’ They're afraid others will see that and not realize this is being executed by a professional.” CM: What was your transition from athlete to coach? Coach: “In the ‘80s cheerleading went through this huge transition. I was a gymnast in high school, and my senior year of high school they did away with gymnastics in the county high schools. I went to high school here, and I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ And a
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF UCF
Linda Gooch has been involved with UCF’s cheer program since the ‘80s, but things have changed since the era of puffy cheer uniforms and unchecked stunts. Gooch, who prefers to be called “Coach,” started off as a cheerleader then transitioned to head cheer coach, where she helped build the legacy of the spirit team. Under Coach, the team has placed in the top 10 of the College Cheerleading National Championships 26 times, including titles in 2003, 2007 and 2020.
Coach: “The fact that we were on our own. We didn’t have a coach, but this was very common for cheerleading during the ‘80s. It was evolving at that time, and so we were very much like a club. We would run our own practices, vote on a captain, drive ourselves to away games. Anybody between the ages of 18 to 23 can attest that sometimes you do need a bit of guidance and leadership. They don't let people rent a car until they're 25 years old. Why? Because your brain is not completely developed. Yes, it's the athlete’s job to believe that they can survive anything, but it's the coach’s job to decide what is actually survivable. That’s why we needed to take two steps back and master base skills before moving on.”
certainly come a long way. I'm laughing because I look back at some of the very first uniforms we had in the late ‘60s to early ‘70s, and you had just a sweater with a big K on the front. Today, there's so much with putting your mark out there, and having that stacked UCF logo big and on the front of our uniform is a big deal.”
girlfriend said, ‘Why don’t you go out for the cheerleading team?’ I tried out and cheered for football my senior year. When I came to UCF, I didn’t know anything about cheer here. I had a girlfriend who was in a sorority, and she got all the information for me. I tried out as a sophomore and loved it. I loved the gymnasticathletic part of it and all the acrobatics that was involved in partner stunting. I was just hooked. When I graduated from UCF, they were hiring a coach, and now you know the rest of the story.” CM: How has cheer evolved as a sport? Coach: “It probably started as more of a sideline ‘Rahrah’ perception. Anybody who has watched us at a football game would absolutely agree that it takes athleticism. It’s
a sport and certainly our team members are athletes. The other thing is the competitiveness of it. If you watch ESPN and you see the college championships, it’s treated like a sport. Television certainly has gone a long way changing that perception.” CM: How has the legacy of the past affected the present? Coach: “ I can speak just from where we’ve come from. People come from all across the country to be a part of this. Along with that, there’s a great responsibility because you have a lot of eyes on you. People that are watching how you carry yourself and how you do it. If you’re at UCF, it doesn’t matter if you’re the chess or quidditch team. You need to aspire to be the absolute best. We have a little bit of that chip on our shoulder as UCF students.”
UCF cheerleaders hype up the crowd with a one-man stunt at a football game.
From Rose to Butterfly BY ASHLEY MARIA BERMUDEZ
Craig Bromberg was sitting at his daughter’s celebration of life service not knowing how he would stand up in front of everyone and get through his speech without crying. But he wanted to do it and make his daughter, Emily Rose Bromberg, proud. As he listened to Emily’s friends, mentors and aunt tell their stories about Emily on July 11 at Generations Church, he realized there was so much love in the room. “I just had this moment of calm — the only moment of calm that I’ve had in over a year,” Craig said. “I just went through it and said what I wanted to say, and I really felt like she was there with me.” Emily Rose Bromberg died at 22 years old. She majored in human communications at UCF before leaving school her junior year. At 15 years old, Emily was diagnosed with Stage 2B Melanoma, which was surgically removed. In March 2019, she was diagnosed with cancer again — Stage 4 Melanoma. Emily’s family knew that she wouldn’t have wanted people crying and dressed in black clothes. Instead, guests wore bright colors to Emily’s celebration of life. Dylan Bromberg, Emily’s younger brother, had the idea to wear pink, her power color. One day, he was at the mall with his sister, and she felt insecure, thinking that people were looking at her. They decided to leave, and as they were leaving, Emily went straight to a pink suit — the suit she said she’d wear when she was cancer-free. “I have her suit in my closet, and I used it as inspiration to find the one I’m wearing now,” Dylan said at the celebration of life. “Even when her day was down, she knew how to
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twist it positively.” Dylan said that he had a close relationship with his sister and that he could always tell her anything without being judged. “She taught me a lot about the world and appreciating the small things,” Dylan said. “Really just living life passionately and without regrets.” This included uploading a video on her YouTube channel, Emily Rose, when she shaved her head. She said it was a freeing and exciting day and that she loved the way she looked. “I’ve had one of the scariest half of a year,” Emily said in the video. “It’s been terrifying, but it's been some of the best months of my entire life … You can’t let things get in the way of you living your life.” The celebration of life was packed with roses and butterflies that had ribbons with Emily’s name. Guests grabbed a butterfly on the way in and a rose on the way out.
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Live your best lives. That is my best advice to you. No matter what is going on, just live.
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Emily Rose Bromberg was featured on Centric magazine's 2020 cover. She passed away on July 6, after her second cancer diagnosis.
Emily Rose Bromberg
But Anne Bromberg, Emily’s mother, said that she doesn’t think there were enough for the almost 800 guests. About 500 people fit inside while a crowd outside the church watched through the TVs. Anne said that one person with cancer who attended was ready to give up on treatments, but Emily told her that she had to keep going. “She credits Emily with saving her life and keeping her in the fight,” Anne said. “People have said, ‘Oh my gosh! She lived her life unapologetically.’” In honor of Emily’s impact, the Emily Rose
EMpwr Foundation was launched in August. Craig said that the foundation’s details are being finalized, but it has started raising money, giving him bittersweet feelings. “Being reminded of Emily is wonderful, but being reminded of some of the challenges — it’s difficult,” Craig said. The foundation is managed by Craig, Anne, and Amanda Calta, Emily’s aunt. When Emily was born, Calta would take her on outings, and they formed a tight bond as Emily grew up. “I was her aunt, but we were also friends,” Calta said. “We would say that we were soul twins.” Anne said Emily wanted to be a cycling instructor in New York, where she loved to see Broadway shows. She loved to dance and was a competitive dancer before shifting toward her fitness career. She loved the color pink, her family’s two rescue dogs and two rescue cats. She loved spending time with her friends and adored it when people used her first and middle name together. She loved trying new restaurants, going to concerts and traveling with her family. Emily Rose Bromberg especially loved her family and they love her.
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ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL SANTIAGO
A Community Reflects on Pulse’s Impact Five years later, its aftermath can still be felt within Orlando’s LGBTQ+ nightlife. BY ALEXIS SCHATTEN
Tragedy struck Orlando five years ago on June 12, 2015, when 49 members of Orlando’s queer community lost their lives at Pulse. The tragedy at Pulse shook the nation, making national news as the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ and Latinx community in the United States. Prior to the tragedy at Pulse, gay bars and nightclubs were seen as safe havens for the queer community. Places like Pulse allowed the community to be themselves and celebrate their differences loudly and proudly. In the wake of the tragedy, though, many members of the queer community were hesitant to start going out again. “Following Pulse, I think that the whole landscape of our community drastically shifted,” George Wallace, executive director for the LGBT+ Center Orlando, said. “A lot of people in the LGBT community have been victims of hate crimes, and Pulse changed our community; it was kind of polarizing immediately following the tragedy. I don’t think people went out as much, but time has changed that.” Bars and nightclubs in the Orlando area were heavily affected by Pulse. They immediately took
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action, increasing their security and making sure their guests felt safe. The Orlando Police Department provided security for members of the LGBTQ+ community following the attack, making sure the community felt seen and provided for in the aftermath. “Immediately following the tragedy, there was extra security at all of the bars in Central Florida,” Wallace said. The Orlando community came together after Pulse. Regardless of sexuality, people showed up, supporting victims and their families as the community healed. “Orlando has always been a friendly, welcoming and affirming city,” Barbara Poma, owner of Pulse and Founder of OnePulse said. “Orlando itself was always like that, but now we scream it. Now, you’ll find rainbow flags everywhere or stickers on windows. I think there’s just a lot more symbolism of ‘You are welcome here. Everyone’s welcome here.’” This support for the community has allowed it to grow into what it is today. Orlando has always been proud, but it’s now prouder than ever. UCF’s
LGBTQ+ students have more resources now than ever before, with LGBTQ+ Services providing students with opportunities and connections throughout the community. The Pride Student Association has grown this year as well and is providing students with weekly events to encourage them to meet other members of the community. “A lot of people are really engaged with the Pride Student Association. People are actually really interested and are making a lot of friends. It’s a very active community we have,” PSA Vice President Caleb Trent said. PSA provides students, who may not be interested in clubbing or going to bars, with events that are of more interest to them and still allow them to
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEXIS SCHATTEN
get out and meet new people. “We’ve done a couple coffee socials, and those are really popular” Trent said. “People show up and just chat and get coffee and get to know each other.” There are less designated gay bars and clubs in Orlando now than there used to be. Wallace, who has lived in Orlando since 2002, said that many gay bars and clubs have closed in the time he’s lived in Orlando, but the queer nightlife scene has not suffered for it. “I think going out to a bar or a club — they don’t necessarily have to cater to the LGBTQ community,” Wallace said. “I have a good time at a straight bar, and I have a good time at a gay bar. You go out, and you just have fun.” Students, like sophomore Axel Marquez, are newer to the Orlando area and have never even gone to designated gay bars or clubs. The bars and clubs near campus are more convenient to go to since they’re closer, he said. “I’ve only really gone to straight bars and clubs,” Marquez said. “So far, it’s been pretty good. Sometimes it’s a little underwhelming, but I tend to just look over that and have a fun time anyway.” The Orlando nightlife scene has changed a lot. Clubs that were once cornerstones of the community are now gone, but the nightlife scene is once more as prominent as it had been prior to Pulse. “Bars and nightclubs were seen as safe spaces, and June 12th changed that,” Wallace said. “I do think that now they’re again seen as safe spaces.”
Orlando’s pride parade was held on Oct. 9, and provided a safe space for members of the community. Over 200,000 people attended the event.
Following Pulse, new organizations were formed to provide resources for Central Florida’s queer and Latinx communities. QLatinx honors the 49 lost at Pulse, by providing safe and healing space for members of the queer Latinx community. OnePulse Foundation was founded to memorialize Pulse, honor those that died and provide legacy scholarships to students. The LGBT+ Center Orlando provides free STI testing, mental health counseling among other resources to support the members of the queer community. In 1978, the Center opened as Gay Community Services, but has evolved and expanded since. Its secondary location in Kissimmee opened in 2018 after Pulse.
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Turning Pointe How the pandemic sparked a change for UCF dancers and choreographers. BY KATHERINE JEAN-BAPTISTE
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It takes losing something that you love to be able to realize how much you need it. I feel like I took dance for granted. Victoria Grover
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"I felt a lot of pressure on me because it was no longer just ‘my piece’; it's a piece for everyone," Grover said. "I wanted to do it in a way that not only talks about cancer, but also showcases the amount of people affected by it."
Choreographing a dance of this size is no easy feat, pandemic or not, Grover said. The tumultuous process of trying to stay true to the vision for this emotional piece while also adjusting to the limitations of the lingering effects of COVID impacted the way she approached choreography for this piece. "Being in a small confined space and not being able to do things that you've worked out in your head in a large area leaves room for error,” Grover said. “At the same time, because your options are limited, you have to think outside the box, and you may end up with ideas that you may have never come up
with otherwise.” Grover performed her piece in the Knights and Damsels Fall 2021 Showcase on Nov. 19, along with student choreographed pieces from her teammates. She wanted her piece to stand out and resonate with the audience not only because of its personal message, but also because of the emotions of her dancers. “I really wanted all of the dancers to come to the front of the stage at the end of the piece to take a moment to allow the dance to sink in for the audience,” she said. “I wanted the dancers to be able to show their faces and their connection with the piece and share that with the audience.”
Cortney Malalel masks up for rehearsals as the Knights and Damsels Dance Team prepare for their fall showcase.
PHOTO BY KATHERINE JEAN-BAPTISTE
When sophomore Victoria Grover imagined how her first year as a UCF dance student would go, she never imagined she would be trading the dance studio for a computer screen during COVID-19. Grover was taking the next step to explore her long-time interest in choreography when theater and studio closings put her efforts on hold. "One of my main hopes of coming to UCF was to grow as an artist and a choreographer. When COVID hit, it was right in the middle of me trying to start the journey for myself," Grover said. "Being in front of all of your classmates and teaching it to them one-on-one — going over those things that can't be conveyed through a computer screen — I had to work with what I had." Grover wasn't alone in the sentiment. Fellow dance student and sophomore Catherine Gregorius explained the struggle of both learning and teaching choreography through Zoom rehearsals from the confines of her dorm room. "Either you can't see everything, [there are] delays in the music or the video connection sometimes goes out," Gregorius said. "It makes you realize how specific you have to be when everybody can't see what you're doing, and you have to explain in such detail what you want their body to look like." Things started looking up for the budding choreographers when UCF began opening its doors in fall 2020. Studio spaces were once again available for use with safety restrictions in place. It was an emotional time for both performers and choreographers alike, as many experienced a newfound appreciation for the art, said Courtney Malalel, a member of the Knights and Damsels Dance team and a dancer in Grover’s choreography routine. “It takes losing something that you love to be able to realize how much you need it. I feel like I took dance for granted,” Malalel said. “Everyone has missed how it feels to perform and create, so dancers — and really all performers — realized after going back into studio spaces just how much more you want to be there than you ever did.” In Grover's case, she’s choreographed four dances since then and is preparing for her most challenging and personal dance yet: a tribute piece for a family friend that lost their fight to cancer. "It's just really important to me because there's a lot of people that can relate,” Grover said. “After seeing how their passing affected my family, I wanted to pay tribute to the friend that we lost and hopefully relieve some of the grief that has still not passed with some of my family members." Grover wasn't expecting the overwhelming response of dancers who wanted to join her piece. Suddenly, Grover's anticipated dance of 17 performers nearly doubled to a 32-person piece.
SPARKING
CHANGE
SPARKING
CHANGE
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Centric Magazine Fall 2021 Centric is the University of Central Florida’s studentrun magazine that spotlights interesting, innovative and inspiring people in the UCF community — students, faculty, staff and alumni. Managing Editor
Contributing Photographer
Melissa Perez-Carrillo
Tomás Diniz Santos
Art Director
Contributing Illustrators
Micaela (Quela) Reyes
Victor Davila
Digital Editor
Ashley Ferguson
Elainie Barraza
Donald Hughes
Staff Writers
Daniel Santiago
Ashley Maria Bermudez Brittany Caldwell
Faculty Adviser Eric Michael
Jazmine Hawkins Katie Jean-Baptiste Clara Melo de Paula Nina Murillo Liana Progar
Founder Rick Brunson Nicholson School of Communication and Media Director Dr. Robert Littlefield
Alexis Schatten Daniela Vivas Labrador Randy Vuxta Special thanks to Rob Boucher, Victor Davila, Patrick Greenish, Lauren Waters and UCF Marketing. Centric is published annually each fall by students from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. Content may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Get More Centric Online For more original content, photos and video, visit nicholsonstudentmedia.com/centric. Engage with Us on Instagram @centricmagazine
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PHOTO COURTESY OF UCF
Kasyn Givens
Pegasus symbolizes the limitless possibilities of our UCF community. The mythical beast bore ancient heroes to make history, just as our students carry our legacy into the world to change the future. It only takes one discovery, one lesson, one achievement, one connection and one tradition to build a legacy. How will you lead the charge?
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