Centric Magazine Fall 2020

A Fighter’s Resilience UCF student battles cancer for the second time but doesn’t let it get in her way

Inside:

First generation student makes the most out of her coLlege experience Local activist spreads awareness through his clothing line

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INDESIGN MAGAZINE

Table of Contents

Time After Time: 20 Years at UCF How UCF has transformed in the past two decades

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06 Don’t Stop Now First-generation student makes the most of her college experience

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Its a Shourds thing Sibling educators shape the future

Mental Health in a Pandemic Mental health tips to get you through the day

Cover photo By Berkley McGaughey

Fighter, Soon to be Survivor UCF student battles cancer for the second time

20/20 Vision Seniors look forward to a post-pandemic future

20 The Tea Party The tea on Jeremy Singh’s safe yet whimsical Disney tale

the Switch 22 Flipping UCF students

16 Black is Activism Local activist spreads awareness through clothing brand

Speak Louder 18 Actions Local activists spark change in the UCF community

outside the U.S. learn virtually from their home countries

Activities 24 Quarantine Here is a list of top 10 quarantine activities

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Six Feet Apart Finding love during a global pandemic

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Letter from the Editor 2020. The year everyone gloriously anticipated. It was the beginning of a new decade to kick off the new wave of the roaring 20s. One thing’s for sure — “roaring” is the best way to describe the vehemence of this year.

One hundred years ago, the 1920s were a time laced with exuberantly uninhibited pop culture and economic prosperity. Fast forward a century later, where 2020 doesn’t fall short in any of those areas.

Many factors have played into the new normal of this year — a global pandemic that kept people quarantined for more than six months and tested the stability of America’s economy, the re-emergence of a revolution through the Black Lives Matter movement and an era-defining presidential election, to name a few. While social distancing practices, racial injustice and a political divide collectively tested our faith this year, we didn’t let that stop us.

Here at Centric, we spotlight interesting, innovative and inspiring people in the UCF community who are making an impact on their part of the world. The individuals we’ve connected with over the course of creating this year’s issue are the faces of UCF, and we couldn’t be prouder to share their stories.

There’s one thing most of these stories have in common: resilience. Despite any shortcomings or adversities that have come our way, the UCF community — including Centric’s staff — have defied the odds and come together to lift each other up.

So, before you desperately look ahead to 2021 and dismiss all the turmoil brought on by 2020, remember the better times. Remember all the essential workers — especially those in healthcare — and thank them for risking their own health to bring everyone else a sense of normalcy. Remember all the TikTok trends and inspirational small businesses that were built from the ground up.

Remember the memories you’ve made with your family and friends. After all, hindsight is 20/20.

Samantha N. Olson Editor-in-Chief, Centric Magazine

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Time After Time: 20 Years of UCF

‘I’m In’

How UCF has transformed in the past two decades

The Success of Heissam Jebailey

By Jenna Ehrlich

By John Michonski

2000

Stephanie Mayfield Garcia, associate marketing instructor of at UCF is celebrating her 20-year anniversary of teaching at UCF. Garcia shared how UCF evolved since she first arrived two decades ago. UCF had little campus life with around 33,000 students and 118 degree programs at the time. Garcia said there were limited things for students to do outside of class. In the classroom, professors lectured by using projectors and VHS players. Garcia said most students transferred to UCF from community colleges and degree programs were limited. Garcia saw UCF as an opportunity to do something to give back to people’s lives.

She never thought she would stay around as long as she has because her love for UCF grew as she saw the university expand.

Photos courtesy of UCF library database

UCF unveiled renderings of a proposed oncampus football stadium which was approved by the Board of Trustees.

UCF also surpassed the $100 million mark for research funds and enrolled 40 college students who were displaced

by Hurricane Katrina.

The National Wildlife Federation also awarded UCF Campus Ecology Recognition for its prescribed burn plan. Garcia said professors were pushing for more faceto-face interaction with students in the classroom and that material was focusing more on teaching students information that would be more vital after graduation compared to generic information on subjects. UCF’s local community also started getting more involved with students, offering internships and jobs to Knights after graduation.

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2015

2005

2010

In 2010, UCF was ranked in the top tier for the first time ever in the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” list. UCF’s total enrollment surpassed 53,500 students overtaking the University of Florida to become the top university in enrollment in Florida and third largest in the nation. Online enrollment at UCF had also grown with 111,000 students taking classes remotely. Garcia said she remembers classes at UCF becoming more interactive because of updated technology and that construction at UCF started getting crazy, seeming like new buildings were constantly being developed. Garcia said that in 2010, UCF was starting to make a name for itself.

Enrollment at UCF continued to increase totaling to 64,000 students. Garcia said she remembers students on campus wearing UCF logo shirts, since UCF Football was starting to create a name for the program after winning the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.

Garcia remembered handing out free UCF football tickets with the director of UCF’s Lake Mary location just to have people in the stadium. She said UCF sports in general were becoming more known and that more school spirit was apparent at UCF.

2020

UCF is now one of the biggest universities in the country with over 72,231 students enrolled and continues to receive national recognition. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the university was full of school spirit with students walking around campus in UCF logo apparel.

Students now have an array of clubs and amenities to take part in outside of classes.

Some UCF students are even offered paid internships and job opportunities post graduation for being a Knight. Garcia said that even with most classes being held remotely due to COVID-19, she feels professors are still trying to make classes as interactive as possible. “There hasn’t been a day in 20 years that I don’t want to go to work,” Garcia said.

She said she looks forward to seeing new changes for as long as she continues to work at UCF.

eissam Jebailey’s catchphrase is “I’m In.” Those who have taught him consistently rave about how much his own tenacity and hard work brought him to where he is today.

Jebailey is a man with his hands in many cookie jars, running I’m In Events, I’m In Fitness and selling real estate, all while keeping himself healthy and helping others in the community

“Nothing beats believing in yourself and working hard,” Jebailey said. “You are what you do and you are who you hang out with. Success comes from how you act.”

Heissam has always been an active participant in UCF life, beginning in 1998 and continuing to today.

“When I first met him, I quickly realized he was a force to be reckoned with, in a good way,” said Joan McCain, associate instructor and advertising and public relations program coordinator at UCF. “We were two alumni who were requested to speak to students, and I just knew whatever he said to them was going to be helpful.”

Jebailey graduated from UCF in 2000. Since then, he has participated in a variety of business ventures, including owning the Central Florida Future until Gannett purchased it in 2007.

Under Jebailey’s leadership, the paper won “Best AllAround Non-Daily Student Newspaper” and “Best Affiliated Website” awards from the national branch of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Jebailey’s business savvy could be seen even before he graduated.

Frank Stansberry, a retired UCF advertising professor, remembers Heissam’s enthusiasm.

“We had an event called C-Day where we wanted to feed anyone in the communications sector who showed up,” Stansberry said. “Heissam wrote ‘C-Day’ and the date on a white shirt and wore it for a whole week straight, parading around campus.”

In the same year he graduated from UCF, Jebailey almost lost his life.

He contracted pneumonia and it took ten years for his body to fully recover.

To celebrate his health, Jebailey threw a party at the Rosen Plaza. Heissam decided to keep holding that party every year after that.

“By the third year, it was a major event, one I named the Black and White Weekend,” Jebailey said. “It’s the largest charity event of its kind in the world.

We raise thousands of dollars for a local charity, the Base Camp Children’s Cancer Foundation.”

Terri Robbins, President of Base Camp, has been working with Jebailey for nine years.

“Usually, charity events change who they send the money to each year,” Robbins said. “Heissam kept us as his focus and even requested volunteers from us after the first year he sent a check. He’s very hands on, he even volunteers to bring food to kids in the hospital.”

The Black and White Weekend didn’t happen this year due to health and safety concerns surrounding COVID-19. Jebailey was impacted as he couldn’t run in-person events since quarantine started.

Jebailey still requested donors to give to Base Camp even without the Black and White Weekend, and they came through. Base Camp is still able to keep the lights on even with the issues COVID-19 represents.

“I see a light at the end of the tunnel, though,” Jebailey said. “People are banding together more and more, and I know that we’ll get through this as a community.”

Jebailey (Pictured in center) at A PAST Black and White Weekend EVENT. Photo Courtesy of Heissam Jebailey

Don’t Stop Now

First-generation student makes the most of her college experience

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OVID-19 has taken many first experiences from freshmen at UCF; however, firstgeneration college student and freshman business management major Joana Vail said this is just another block in the road for her.

“We all have to go through obstacles in life and my mom and I have had to go through plenty, so the fact that I’m in college right now is such a blessing,” Vail said.

Vail’s parents were born and raised in Guatemala, where she said the social norm on education is not taken seriously. Vail’s mother, Imelda Carreto, dropped out of school to watch her siblings so Vail’s grandparents could work.

Imelda Carreto said coming to America was a dream of hers because she wanted to continue to support her family in Guatemala while being able to give her future children a better life.

Vail said from a young age she knew if she wanted to go to college, she would have to pay for it herself and

By Jenna Ehrlich started focusing on her studies in the fourth grade. In middle school, Vail said she learned about how she could apply for scholarships that would help her pay for a college education and applied to be a part of the IB program at school to stand out among her peers.

Vail ended up receiving The Pegasus Gold Scholarship, the highest Bright Futures award and was approved for FAFSA which she said ended up being more funding than she needed.

“When I checked my MyUCF account and there was money left over, I was happy,” Vail said. “The satisfaction of knowing that I didn’t have to ask my mom for help… I was definitely relieved to say the least.”

When Vail told her mother the news about having everything paid for her mother said it was not surprising because of the amount of hard work she has seen her daughter do over the years.

“I’m super proud, I always tell people she’s my very first kid to go to college,” Imelda Carreto said. “I’m more than proud but it was also expected.”

Vail said that being a firstgeneration student at UCF during the ongoing pandemic is different but that her priorities have not changed. Vail said if she let something like this get in her way, many other things would have kept her from achieving her goal of going to college a while back.

So far, Vail is a part of the Burnett Honors College Congress, DECA, Children Beyond our Borders and the UCF Marching Knights band.

“I know the opportunity will come one day where I will have all of those college experiences but at the end of the day, I need a degree and I can get a degree without having to go through those extra experiences,” Vail said.

As a business management major, Vail wants to help families that are facing similar issues to her own.

She said her mother has inspired her because as a mom with multiple children, she did not let it stop her from doing what she wanted to do.

Vail said women in Hispanic countries become mothers at an early age because they think that is the only way to have stability. Additionally, she said that usually backfires on them because they cannot support their families and because of this, children are not able to afford a good education and fall back into the same cycle as their parents.

Vail said it upsets her to see that most Hispanic women do not have the opportunity to better themselves and that she wants to help end the stigma of education in Hispanic cultures.

“Seeing it in my family makes me want to help others as well,” Vail said. “I see people like this have the potential, I know my mom had the potential to do more than she could ever dream of, but she didn’t have the opportunity.”

Imelda Carreto said her wish is for Vail to finish college healthy and successfully. She said not everyone has the privilege to go to school and some

parents she knows do not care if their kids go to college.

“The way I grew up, parents value having a husband and being useful in the house more than sending their daughter to college. But I came here for her to do more than that and she did,” Imelda Carreto said.

Vail is the oldest out of her eight siblings that are in America. Vail said she tells her siblings to work hard in school now to be able to have the opportunity to go to college through scholarships.

Vail’s youngest sister, Yudith Carreto, said Vail is her number one inspiration.

“She has achieved so much, and she can definitely say ‘I have accomplished so much and I’m proud of myself’,” Yudith Carreto said. “She isn’t only hardworking academically, but just as a person she is very understanding and has been there for me all my life. I hope one day, I can say ‘I’m proud of myself’ the way she does.”

JOANA Vail has worked hard from a young age to pursue her dreams at UCF (pictured from left to right).

Photos courtesy of Joana Vail

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It’s a Shourds Thing Sibling Educators shape the future

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hen they were

Jessie and Matthew Shourds pictured as children. Photos courtesy of Jessie and MAtthew Shourds.

growing up, siblings Jessie and Matthew Shourds were just two little kids playing teacher and student. Little did they know that they’d end up in the education field as adults.

What they also didn’t know is that there would be a global pandemic that would change their ways of teaching.

UCF alumna Jessie Shourds, 29, is a kindergarten teacher in Osceola County.

She graduated from UCF in May 2014 with a degree in early childhood education and said she remembers how she struggled to pick a major.

“I was home one weekend, I think I was a sophomore in college, and I was helping my nephew with his homework and my dad told me, ‘You’re really good at breaking it down and explaining things to him, so that’s something that you’re really good at,’” Jessie Shourds said. “It kind of just planted the thought in my brain and I switched my major to education, and I stuck with it.”

Despite having an early childhood degree meant to teach younger children, Jessie Shourds had a connection that led her to teaching middle school. She began teaching reading and language arts at Bellalago Academy in August 2014 and

By Lexi Vazquez stayed there for five years. In August 2019, she switched from middle school to high school and said it was very different for her as she wasn’t too fond of teaching at the high school level. She then found a position as a kindergarten teacher part way through last year. Jessie Shourds said that although she loved being in a middle school classroom, teaching kindergarten made her happy.

“I think it’s more rewarding teaching kindergarten because you get to see them grow so much,” she said. “Kids that know zero letters, zero sound, they can’t write, they don’t know how to write their name, and by the end of the year, they’re reading. Now I feel like I’m in a good place, I want to stick with this, I want to strengthen myself as a kindergarten teacher.”

During her first few months of teaching kindergarten, she and other teachers, as well as students, had to switch to digital learning in March 2020 because of the stay-at-home orders that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jessie Shourds said when she began to teach again in August 2020, it was very rough. She said she found it difficult to teach kids through a computer screen with their short attention span.

“In kindergarten, we do a lot of learning letters, sounds, how to read, how to write, and it’s hard to teach that through the computer,” Jessie Shourds said. “It’s hard not being there

with them, so I’m very happy that I got asked to switch from digital learning to face-to-face.

There are some challenges because we do have to be socially distant, but it’s so much better.”

She switched from digital learning to face-to-face classes on Oct. 1. The desks are spaced out in rows and students wear masks all day long. She said she reminds them that they follow such protocols to stay safe and that the kids are really good at following the rules and keeping their masks on. She also said she just loves that she can now work with her students in person.

Jessie Shourds’ brother, Matthew Shourds, 30, is also a UCF alumnus who teaches in Osceola County. He teaches pre-algebra and algebra to seventh and eighth graders at Parkway Middle School. He graduated from UCF with a degree in elementary education in December 2012 and has been teaching for eight years. When he was at UCF, he changed his major twice before deciding his career path. He realized that when he was younger and his mom was a teacher at the time, he would always help with her students.

“I realized, well, it’s in the family,” Matthew Shourds said. “I like to help out with kids and being around kids, they’re awesome. Being in a middle school environment, they’re so funny.”

He said that when he found out at the end of the last school year that he had to teach digital classes, it was shocking.

He said there wasn’t much structure, but since the district had time to plan in the summer, it’s different this school year.

He teaches six classes consisting of virtual, face-toface and hybrid courses. He said it’s tough teaching virtually because some students don’t have an interest in turning on their cameras and he can see how it’s affecting their academics.

“No matter how many times you ask, it’s not a battle worth fighting,” Matthew Shourds said. “I stress to them, ‘Look, you guys are eighth graders, I obviously don’t know what you guys are doing at home, if your cameras are off, you know you’re either paying attention or not. I’m not the one that has to take the test at the end of the year.’”

Matthew Shourds said that with a hybrid class, it’s natural to have a better discussion with the kids that are face-to-face, but he always tries to make sure he communicates with the digital students as well.

“From time to time, I’ll be like, ‘Digital, what’s the answer to this one?’” Matthew Shourds said. “Some of my kids have told me, ‘Thank you Mr. Shourds. We appreciate that you’re including us because our other teachers, with other hybrid classes they forget about us.’ It’s really just ensuring that

I do pay attention to them and asking them questions.”

He said that he tries to keep the students entertained by joking around with them, using their “lingo” or playing online games with them at the end of class.

“The word that they’re saying now is ‘period queen,’ I say ‘on exclamation king,’” he said. “I’m not going to brag, the kids love me, I’m one of the coolest, one of the best.

They’ll come to me and tell me anything of their drama. You can’t just be there teaching, you’ve got to teach them those life lessons, cause some of them don’t get that at home.”

To keep the kids motivated, Matthew Shourds started an after-school football program on Thursdays that both face-to-face and digital students can participate in.

Alice Shourds, mother to both Jessie and Matthew, said that because they’re a year and ten days apart, they’re inseparable and share a strong bond. They went to the same school their whole lives from the elementary to college level. Alice Shourds said when she was a title one reading specialist at an elementary school, she noticed her kids had a talent for teaching at a young age.

“When they were in middle school and they got out of school early, they would come to my school and they would help out,” Alice Shourds said. “They would read to [students] or help them on the

computer and I just thought, ‘Hmm... it might not be a bad idea for them to teach.’

They always liked to help their nephews and nieces with their schoolwork too.”

Both Jessie and Matthew Shourds have a passion to not only teach students in their respected subjects, but also to teach them how to grow in life as well.

“I love seeing their faces,” Jessie said. “I love being able to teach them, not even just the educational stuff, but teaching them how to be humans. Seeing how excited they get when they know an Jessie and Matthew answer and even seeing them Shourds pictured in their classrooms. dance, it’s just great to see them in the classroom being Photos courtesy of Jessie and MAtthew little humans.”

Shourds.

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Mental Health in a Pandemic Mental health tips to g et you through the day

By Tania Sims

1. Listen to your body

As college students we tend to constantly be on go mode and do not take the necessary time needed to give our bodies a break. If we exert our bodies too much, we will burn out both physically and mentally. You don’t want to wait till you get to that point before you listen to your body.

If you do not take the time to listen to your body, it will make sure that you understand how it feels. Whether it’s crying for no reason or feeling irritable, your body will show signs that it needs your attention — so, listen.

2. Have a level of consistency

Whether it is writing in a journal every day or making your bed, consistency is key. When you have a level of consistency in your life, you know what to expect and know what you’re supposed to be doing. Consistency also gives a sense of accomplishment that can help you when things don’t go the way you expect.

For example, you can put sticky-notes of words of encouragement on your bathroom mirror, so you are reminded of those words everyday. It can be hard to stay encouraged and focus during difficult times, but finding the time to stay consistent with something can contribute to a better mental health.

your own personal growth.

You can reach out to a friend or seek professional help to guide you in certain areas in your life. Mental health therapist Valerie Carmel, LLC said talking to a mentor or someone who may be older than you about where you are in life and how you’re handling it, can save you from overall frustration.

4. Stay Active

One of the hardest parts of being a college student is knowing that you need to work out and be active but feeling like you don’t have enough time to do so. Mental Health therapist Valerie Carmel said consistently working out has been shown to help deal with depression and anxiety.

Anything that gets you physically moving and active releases certain chemicals that allow you to not only be in a better mood but to tackle life’s challenges a little bit better.

Paying attention to what you put in your body is important because it can affect how you feel.

Carmel said that when you feel good physically, you’re more than likely to make better decisions.

6. Search for spirituality

Going for walks, taking deep breaths or even meditating can be relaxing. Find your sense of peace to be in tune with whatever your spirituality may mean to you. If you practice it enough, you will begin to see a shift in your life.

7. Be mindful of your space and time

Life as a college student in 2020 hasn’t been the easiest. We’ve had to adju st to new normals while

As much as we may think we are invincible, we are not. We are human. We are constantly evolving. Life gets maintaining some sense o f sanity amidst all that’s hard and school can be stressful, so don’t wait until you’re occurring in the world. I t can get overwhelming at times and it may seem l ike there’s nothing you too overwhelmed before asking for help. You do not want can do to deal with it. He re are some tips to help to wait till you are in the midst of a mental breakdown improve your mental hea lth during these before asking for help, in doing so you are only stunting uncertain times.

3. Ask for help before you think you need it

5. Pay attention to what you’re putting into your body

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a wild year. From the coronavirus outbreak to the Black Lives Matter movement to preparing for another presidential election. It can get very overwhelming and we may not even realize what we see and do affects our body.

Listening to sad music, scrolling through instagram, or even watching the news can negatively impact our moods. Surround yourself with people, activities, music and anything else that will bring joy and peace into your life.

8. Take a 15-minute break every day

Our bodies need time to rest. Sometimes, we need only 15 minutes to take a break.

Carving out a certain amount of time out of your day to regroup can tremendously impact your life. You have at least 15 minutes out of your day — so, make it count.

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Fighter, Soon to be Survivor UCF Student battles cancer for the second time

By Camila Swanson

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or Emily Bromberg, junior human communications major, changes in her health were much more than being a self-proclaimed hypochondriac.

Instead, it became Stage 4 Melanoma.

Bromberg was previously diagnosed with Stage 2B Melanoma at 15 years old and underwent surgery to remove it, which took a few months to recover. She was coming up on six years of being “in the clear” for cancer when she knew something was off.

Battling with anxiety made her doubt the possibility of a relapse, but she went ahead and got an MRI to be on the safer side. In March of 2019, Bromberg heard words she thought she would not hear again: “You have cancer.”

She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma on the right frontal and parietal side of her brain. Rather than allowing herself to become scared and brought down by her new diagnosis, she decided to turn it into awareness.

“My first instinct was to document my entire journey in order to help others,” said Bromberg.

“

I wanted to let people know that it is OK for life to happen and a positive mindset can do wonders.”

Bromberg highlighted how social media often shows the perfect moments in life, not the hardest parts someone may be encountering.

Her fun and lighthearted Instagram feed soon became one of words of encouragement and vulnerability about her struggle. From immunotherapy to radiation, Bromberg worked to

document her path to one day being a cancer survivor.

Between photos of her glowing and being another normal college student were photos of her after radiation sessions with updates on how she is doing, some more grim than others. Some days, it was a mission to get out of her bed, a mission that proved to be a tremendously frustrating challenge as she went along. With every session, doctor’s visit and bad night, Emily Bromberg began to grow in ways she never thought she would.

“Sometimes we don’t quite know why bad things happen to people and that was a thought that had crossed my mind,” said Bromberg.

“Now almost two years later, I can name how this has made me mentally so much stronger than I ever would be without having gone through this.”

Out of her battle with cancer came a new opportunity: EMPWR Fitness. Bromberg is the creator of a fitness business where she shares tips and tricks for creating a healthy lifestyle. She always had a passion for health and wellness, knowing she always wanted to start a personal training business. As her battle with cancer ensued, she took things she learned through her struggles in order to help others.

Bromberg pushes the importance of being positive and loves being able to help people along their fitness journey despite simultaneously dealing with her own struggles.

“I felt so connected to Emily and she was always there when I had questions or just for some extra motivation,” said Hope Allen, a fellow cancer survivor and EMPWR Babe. “I got to see such a strong woman work

every day to make her body healthier and I truly knew I needed that strength and influence around me.”

Bromberg’s mindset helped her grow in her fitness journey as she highlighted on her Instagram. Her weight fluctuated as she continued her battle, going from 124 pounds to 100 pounds and then at 123 pounds with more muscle than she started with.

Among her constant weight gain and loss was the feeling of not having full blown independence. After the fateful day when she returned home for her life-changing MRI, Bromberg has not been able to move back to Orlando. Every time she tried, she would just get sicker.

Rather than allowing these fluctuations to discourage her, she took it as a sign to continue working hard and really continue to progress.

As of recent, Emily has spoken about how COVID-19 has impacted her life in an extremely personal way.

Being a Stage 4 Cancer fighter, COVID-19 is something that can change the whole course of the progress Emily has made thus far.

After spending a month in a different state for a clinical trial, Emily’s immune system was brought down to 0%.

In a circumstance where she would normally have physical support from friends and family, Bromberg found herself in a lonely spot. She was able to have her mom isolated in the ICU with her.

Because of this, Bromberg has battled her anxiety much more than usual and experienced loneliness, but she refuses to let that bring her down.

She is staying positive by working hard on her business and focusing on the resilience that has gotten her to where she is in the first place.

Although the fight still is not over for Bromberg, she knows that one day she will no longer be a cancer fighter, but a cancer survivor.

EMILY Bromberg has been working hard on her fitness and cancer journey to make herself as healthy as possible.

Photos courtesy of Emily Bromberg.

Taylor gomez

20/20 Vision Seniors look forward to a post-pandemic future

By Nathalia Beltran

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or most students, senior year is the time for making memories and taking chances. But for students in 2020, senior year means making the most of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holly Williams, a 17-year-old senior at Timber Creek High School, thought this year would consist of having fun with her friends before going off to college, but the pandemic has left her missing out on a lot.

Her homecoming and prom are canceled, and she has to stay 6 feet apart from all her friends during lunch.

Each classroom holds five students at most and if she wanted to, she could just stay home for the rest of the year.

“High school is very underwhelming right now,” Williams said.

She said her senior year is definitely not what she anticipated and that she regrets not doing more prior to the pandemic. If she could go back and tell her past self something, it would be:

“Don’t hold back. if you’re skeptical about doing something, just do it because you never know what’s going to happen in the future.”

Although Williams wishes her senior year could be more exciting, she is still hopeful for what’s to come.

She plans on attending UCF in the summer and she is interested in majoring in Chemistry.

“Part of me gets sad because everything is getting canceled but it’s speeding up the end of high school, which I’m kind of happy about because I’m ready to move on,” Williams said.

Williams’ perspective of the world has now changed; she has taken what the pandemic has done to her senior year and decided to learn from it.

“Every time I get to do something even if it’s something super simple, like go to a football game and cheer I get excited because that might be the last one I

Holly williams

get to attend,” she said. “I don’t take things super simple for granted anymore because it could never happen again.”

Taylor Gomez, a senior at UCF majoring in social science, went to a Denzel Curry show in Miami a week before the pandemic hit. Little did she know it would be her last outing for who knows how long.

Although her senior year is not what she expected, Gomez said she has no time for negativity and recognized that it’s time to snap out of the mental block quarantine left her in. As the world begins to reopen, she understands that a new perspective is crucial to achieving success. She realized now is the time to accept reality and shift her focus to preparing for her financial future.

“We just have to trust ourselves and believe that it’s going to work out for us,” Gomez said.

As far as her next step regarding her career goes, she has always been called to work with kids so she really wants to be a social worker for children. She is currently in the midst of job research for which certifications she needs to obtain.

“The hardest thing has been figuring out finances and budgeting. I believe in making money by doing stuff you actually enjoy doing and doing whatever fulfills you,” Gomez said.

Instead of dreading what the pandemic has done to her senior year, she has turned it into something positive. With all the extra time that quarantine and the pandemic provided, Gomez utilized it as a way to facilitate self growth and reassurance regarding her future and career path.

“Having all this time to ourselves and using this time correctly, you can come out of this feeling brand new and work on yourself with no one influencing you.”

Fighting the Virus of Racism Asian-Americans faced a new wave of Xenophobia that came with the COVID-19 Pandemic

By John Michonski

Catherine Le’s parents were devastated by COVID-19. The recent UCF alumna and her family are one of many Asian-American families impacted by the virus still gripping the world in its grasp.

“Our family’s nail salon was a ghost town when the virus hit,” Le said. “Even now, it’s slow. Florida didn’t properly shut down and people are still getting sick, and people put the blame on us.”

Racism is an important topic in 2020, with George Floyd’s death sparking nationwide protests. While these events are focused on the Black community, the Asian-American community is instead bombarded by racism in another way, with many of them given harsh looks in public.

“When people I know went to Publix near the start of quarantine, wearing a mask implied they were sick,” Norynne Caleja, a junior legal studies and international and global studies major and UCF student government senator, said. “Just existing was a tense experience.”

These issues bleed into life at UCF. Only this past semester has the school created a diversity council and before that, there wasn’t any specific group representing students of color on campus. UCF President Alexander Cartwright is taking action but there are still lacking aspects.

“Talk is good, listening is good, but we need action,” Le said.

“We need more money for our groups and the diversity council needs to enforce rules and punish racism.”

The recent protest spurred on by gun rights activist and Donald Trump supporter Kaitlin Bennett’s

appearance on campus was such a racist moment, according to Le.

“UCF didn’t do anything to stop her from spreading her hate here,” Le said. “She’s popular on social media and used our campus to spread her message. People like her and Kacey Musgraves, who sexualized a Vietnamese ao dai (a traditional dress worn by women) on TikTok, are harming many cultures.”

Caleja believes that steps are being taken; they are, however, preliminary ones.

“We have been working together, not just the Asian Pacific American Coalition, but the rest of the diversity committee in general,” Caleja said. “The Black caucus has made themselves known and have worked with us to establish leadership.”

S. Kent Butler, UCF’s interim Chief Equity and Diversity Officer, helps keep all leaders in the diversity group involved.

“When Donald Trump called COVID-19 ‘China Virus,’ it made people interact with Asians differently,” Butler said. “We need to tell Asians at UCF we all stand behind them as a faculty. Just like how we stood for Black students during the Black Lives Matter protests.”

Adrian Lee, a junior international global studies and human communications major, pointed out that some of UCF’s goodwill attempts fell flat.

“Our APAC meetings requested food that represents us,” Lee said. “Because of funding rules and contracts we had no part in, the closest thing we have available to representative food is Panda Express.

That is not real Asian food.”

Lee sees a future where these issues are addressed, however.

“UCF is compassionate, and President Cartwright is listening,” she said. “There is a communication issue right now, but with more relationships between faculty and student leaders, we can come together and fight against racism of all kinds.”

Adrian Lee (Top) and Catherine Le (Bottom) Shared their experiences with xenophobia. Photos courtesy of Lee and Le.

FALL 2020 | 16

Black is Activism

Local activist spreads awareness through clothing brand

By Bailey Williams

A

s an assemblage of protesters marched through downtown Washington D.C. the night of August 30, 2020, police officers followed closely on bicycles. Protesters were being cheered on by locals as they passed through gentrified areas in the city and some even joined the march.

Many of these people had been self-quarantining due to the COVID-19 pandemic when a national tragedy urged them to get out of their houses and into the streets to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

That tragedy was the murder of George Floyd, a black Minnesota resident who was killed by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, causing Floyd to have a heart attack.

Senior mechanical engineering major Travis Slocum was one of countless people who felt compelled to take a stand after learning about Floyd’s death.

“Being a person of color, it’s like a call to action,” Slocum said. “You feel that you just need to be there.”

This call to action, along with a desire to understand current events and the city’s history surrounding racial controversy, led Slocum to D.C. The August protest was not the first of its kind as the March on Washington — which also protested racial discrimination — took place in 1963.

“

I needed to plug in with the community, figure out what they are going through, and kind of just be with my people and figure out ways that either I can learn from them, connect with them, and then bring that stuff back to Orlando.”

Another reason why Slocum went to D.C. was to promote his clothing company Black Is, of which he is the founder and CEO. The message behind this company is to break stigmas attached to being black and redefine the narrative.

Every dollar Slocum makes from Black Is is either invested into a black business for manufacturing expenses, nonprofit community initiatives or collaborations like he did with Gold Drip LLC, a black-owned male hair care line, to create a collection of durags called “Severely Black.”

In D.C., Slocum stayed with the co-founder of Gold Drip LLC and his friend of three years, Carl Hughes, who described him as one of the strongest people he knows.

“He came out to not only fight for those who have been victims of social injustice, but to push the message of both of our brands,” Hughes said. “For that, I have the utmost respect for Travis and would be right by his side for any endeavor.”

Slocum’s friend of five years, Jacorry Lewis, echoed that sentiment.

“There are few people in this life who can be trusted with speaking truth to power for the people the way Travis can,” Lewis said. “Mr. Slocum is essentially the epitome of what it means to lace up your boots and march across the nation for a cause that’s greater than any one of us.”

On one of the nights Slocum spent in D.C., he and protesters marched downtown and arrived back at Black Lives Matter Plaza where they encountered more police officers wearing riot gear. According to Slocum, the increased security was a precaution resulting from the day before when several people rioted.

Unfortunately that night, tensions heightened once again as confrontation between protestors and police ensued. Slocum said officers threw smoke grenades into the crowd and eventually, flashbangs were also deployed.

“When it blew up, a plastic shard went immediately into this girl’s leg right next to me and she started bleeding everywhere,” Slocum said. “I was like, ‘Oh crap. This is nuts.’”

The officers also threw tear gas, pepper bombs and those who had been following the protesters began throwing their bicycles at them, according to Slocum.

FALL 2020 | 17

Officers then began making arrests, at which point Slocum said protesters began to disperse.

“Two police officers grabbed me by the arm, another one just grabbed my shirt,” Slocum said. “I knocked them right off of me and just took off.”

Slocum managed to safely break away from the mayhem. Despite the numerous protests he attended prior to the one in D.C., he said this experience has severely impacted his activism.

groups,” Slocum said. “Black Is Clothing Company will be a company built on unity not uniformity, accepting those from all walks of life but with the agenda of the black community first.”

“

It just reminded me that there has to be a longterm movement.

It’s not a trend and I think that’s

what most people think.”

As for his clothing company, Slocum said he hopes it will gain more exposure and evolve into a brick-andmortar business so that he can push the message of his brand even further.

“The experiences I’ve gained over the past few months have shown the necessity of basic understanding and conversation between different

Photos courtesy of Travis Slocum

FALL 2020 | 18

Actions Speak Louder Local activists spark change in UCF Community

By Jenna Ehrlich, Ysatis Rios-Sabat, Samantha Olson, Bailey Williams & Camila Swanson

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enior social work major and member of activist group Ready Set Reform, Nataly Alvarez, hosted Oviedo’s first Black Lives Matter protest. After participating in Black Out Tuesday, where social media users changed their profile photos to a black square in support of BLM, Alvarez said she felt like more action needed to be taken and helped organize the Black Lives Matter Oviedo: A Peaceful Call for Change protest. Alvarez said that Oviedo is predominantly white; however, the city is influenced by black history. The protest took place on June 13, 2020 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Orlando Friendship park and around 800 people attended the event to let Black community leaders tell their stories. Alvarez said since the protest, Ready Set Reform has continued to attend city hall meetings in Oviedo and serve as allies for the Black community in the city.

unior graphic design major Isabela Parra uses her specialization in illustration, photography and her employment at Ulta to bring awareness to animal rights. Her volunteer work with homeless animals and local shelters has allowed her to become more vocal on her media platforms. Parra asks the community to visit sanctuaries and recovery centers rather than going to the zoo to see animals. Her activism started when she watched Animal Planet documentaries in fourth grade and since then, she has created her own publication that covers things like music, alternative culture and her activism. She plans on creating a series on animals for her website soon. Parra’s hope for the future is that she will be able to illustrate and sell her designs in order to give a portion of her revenues to wildlife organizations. She said she would like to travel the world and photograph endangered animals and climate change at some point.

s a member of the nonprofit organization March For Our Lives, junior political science major Rayanne Anid dedicates her time to ending gun violence in all forms — including mass shootings, police brutality, suicide via firearm and domestic violence. Anid said she felt compelled to learn more about the issue following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018. Since then, she has attended multiple protests, facilitated Get Out To Vote events and partnered up with organizations to educate others on the current state of our nation and the ways that gun violence goes beyond just legislation. As she continues her activism, Anid hopes that the number of deaths from gun violence reduces annually. “I know that I can’t change the world, but if we all come together and fight for what is right we definitely can, and that goes even beyond just voting,” she said.

FALL 2020 | 19

n April 2019, 26-year-old UCF alumnus Mark Meta decided to take a leap of faith and run for a seat on the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation board in District 5. The board’s main purpose is to develop programs to implement and promote proper conservation practices and to educate citizens on the matter. Meta discovered his love for nature while working at Lukas Nursery in Oviedo and wanted to become more involved in local conservation efforts, which led him to the board. His activism dates back to his high school and undergraduate years, but more recently, he has supported efforts to save Split Oak Forest in Orange and Osceola Counties, where a regional expressway is being built. “I want to do something important, not just churn profits for a company and be another cog in the machine,” Meta said. “I’ve always had this intrinsic aspect in me where I just want to help people.”

eyuna Julien, a sophomore double majoring in political science and nonprofit management, said it was during their senior year of high school when they co-founded The Safe Sex Project, which provides sex education and resources to all youth regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Julien said this experience ultimately inspired their other social interests. One of these interests being intersectional feminism, which resulted in Womxnism, an organization they founded in March 2020 to provide a safe space for all genders. Julien is also working closely with UCF’s women’s and gender studies department to create a major degree program because it is currently only offered as a minor. “I want to be that person to actually represent the communities I claim and make sure that other people have a voice,” Julien said. “I want my activism to inspire others to go above and beyond what they think their limitations are.”

o-founder of Ready Set Reform, Kim Ariza, uses their grasp on their community to help assist marginalized communities in the Orlando area. Following the murder of George Floyd, Kim and their friends worked together to create their organization and organize the first Black Lives Matter protest in Oviedo. The protest was put together within a week and a half including speakers, a march, a moment of silence, testimonies and kneeling moments.

Looking back on what needed to be done following the protest, Kim and their fellow activists made the decision to start Ready Set Reform. Ready Set Reform has also assisted in making a voter guide for the 2020 presidential election with resources on what each position calls for, all candidates with short bios and links to more information on certain topics. “We didn’t want things to end after this protest,” Ariza said. “Our work wasn’t finished and I don’t think it will ever be finished.”

FALL 2020 | 20

The Tea Party

How Jeremy singh found tiktok through his whimsical disney journey

By Chelsea Velez

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ascading down Main Street, U.S.A. with brick red suspenders, a feathered cap and a Dumbo plush toy hanging on his back, Jeremy Singh enters a world of magic.

He had a childhood filled with his grandma’s Walt Disney Masterpiece VHS tapes of his favorites: “Oliver and Company” and “Hercules.” Little did Singh know he’d encounter many Disney theme park experiences, including being hosted at the parks by The Walt Disney Co. as an influencer.

Singh said Disney followed him growing up but that he never went to the parks until 2012 since his dad was in the military and he lived in South Dakota. Ever since his first trip, all he did was learn Disney’s history.

“I’m not saying Disney being in Orlando is part of the reason I ended up at UCF but I am definitely insinuating that,” Singh, a junior advertising and public relations major said.

When COVID-19 hit, it was devastating for Disney-bounders, those who are inspired to dress as particular Disney characters, like Singh. He was at Magic Kingdom the last day it was open before the pandemic caused a slew of closures. He described the scene as delirious and a really sad day at Magic Kingdom where everyone was crying.

“This is where I am all the time, this is my happy place. The serotonin I get at Disney is immaculate and it was also the place that I came whenever I was just feeling anxious about anything,” Singh said. “Disney always just made me feel better.”

Singh’s mom, Gia McFarlin, said college kids and teenagers are having a hard time coping with returning home during COVID. McFarlin said she’s amazed at how her son still finds so much magic in Disney given that he

lives in Florida, has an annual pass and has gone to Disney so many times.

While she was Disneybounding with Singh, McFarlin said people were constantly going up to Singh and telling him “Oh my God, I see you on TikTok and your edits are incredible, your videos have helped me get through COVID!”

“He has this personality to him that brings people in, helps them get through things, he’s just a really good kid,” McFarlin said. “I mean, he’s mine, so I’m a little biased but I think the way that he is with other people, how he interacts, he’s very respectful, he’s just great.”

Singh, better known as @jeremythetea across social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, said the pandemic makes him really anxious most of the time and that there are a lot of moments where he didn’t know what to do. This is where he took to social media as an outlet, deciding on a whim, TikTok-wise, to start curating Disney content.

It all began with the Disneybound challenge his friends @magicbymuses hosted where he made a TikTok for The Aristocats. Singh said it “popped off” and that he found it was something he was meant to do.

Creating out of the box Disney edits that “absolutely no one asked for” were a way to channel his imagination while staying home. Singh said he spoke to an audience and made lots of Disney friends worldwide.

It got to a point where Singh and his friends were recruited for a project hosted by a brand celebrating the arts and culture of all things Disney, @mickeytrueoriginal. They got together mirroring The Sensational Six — otherwise known as the beloved Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie

Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto — coining the term The Magic Six and being picked up by Good Morning America.

“We were literally just friends having fun and that was the really cool part, is that we got to succeed together while just genuinely having fun,” Kristen Lambinicio, a member of The Magic Six said.

Lambinicio met Singh when collaborating on a princess medley with other members of the group.

“He was the Flynn Rider to my Rapunzel and we dueted together and it was awesome and then from there, we just all became pals,” Lambinicio said.

Each member of the group has strong bonds together. For Lambinicio and Singh, they are “the chaotic twins” of the group, describing their friendship as explosive.

“He’s so genuine and authentic and that’s one thing I’m a big advocate for is authenticity,” Lambinicio said.

“With Jeremy, what you see is what you get.”

She aspires to be a Disney Imagineer, where she would help design and construct park attractions and shows. Lambinicio said she spoke with Singh about remaining in a community with Disney-rooted morals.

“Not so surprising, Jeremy and I have talked about this, kind of a joke but not really, being CEOs of Disney,” Lambinicio said. “Somebody give us a call!”

Until then, Singh plans to proceed with caution and describes Disney as safe. Singh said all the cast members there are to thank for still having that Disney magic even given the circumstances of a global pandemic.

Singh is hopeful to see newfound friends once the pandemic ends and continues creating content the only way they know, “with a whole lot of Disney magic.”

“That’s just kind of what the pandemic did to me and that’s how I kind of retaliated back to not being able to go anywhere,” Singh said. “That’s Disney World in a nutshell, safe but whimsical.”

JEREMY Singh spends his day at “the happiest place on earth.” Photos courtesy of Salomé Caballero.

FALL 2020 | 22

Flipping the Switch

UCF Students outside the U.S Learn virtually from their home countries

A

t 1 a.m., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was in silence.

Abdullah Almaneea turned on his computer and showed himself on camera for our Zoom meeting.

“It feels weird,” Almaneea said.

“It’s a completely different feeling.

The thing is, right now, here in Saudi Arabia, I always speak and hear Arabic, and then suddenly I have to switch to English.”

Senior public administration graduate student Almaneea could have spent his last semester in Orlando accompanied by his friends. However, due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to Saudi Arabia under the arrangement of Saudi government in July 2020.

“We got messaged from the Saudi embassy, it’s like an evacuation plan,” he said.

This return, however, left him at home until now. Shortly after his return, the Saudi government announced the border was closed and its citizens were banned from leaving the country. He had no choice but to stay at home.

Now, however, Almaneea’s hopes are rekindled.He could apply to the government to go abroad. It is not an application that anyone can make, he said. Only citizens who need to return to the United States for reasons such as schooling can file and wait for government approval.

“It’s kind of hard, but it’s working at least,” he said with a wry smile.

Almaneea shook the teacup in his hand. Today’s work has just begun.

He’s taking two classes during the fall 2020 semester, one being his major’s capstone class. There are no

By Keyun Wang mandatory Zoom meetings, so he doesn’t have to set an alarm to get up in the midnight hours.

He said the capstone class is more like a project that focuses on research and programs that summarize what he has learned in the past two years.

Nevertheless, he still has to work every night, considering his review assignments and discussion posts.

“The thing is we upload all the files,” he said. “And we had to review them every day. The best time to do it is at night because everybody’s asleep and the house is quiet, so I can take my time. Also, the due date is usually at six in the morning [Arab time].”

Tea and coffee have become nightly companions for Almaneea.

Arabic, spoken for about 10 hours during the day, is temporarily offline at the ring of midnight, replaced by paragraphs of English typed into a computer, word for word.

When the sun rises, Almaneea submits his assignments. When his family wakes up for the day, he will enter his dreams with the fragrance of breakfast.

Similarly, Yizhuo Wang, a junior hospitality management major from China who left the U.S. in early April, has spent almost all of 2020 in her hometown. However, at that time, the difficulties were even greater. Nearly all flights between China and the U.S. had been stopped by both governments, and only one flight a week transports passengers. Tickets were hard to find. The journey home was difficult.

There was no available flight ticket on the internet, students could only buy tickets through some ticket scalpers.

Some Chinese students paid at least $10,000 for a ticket.

Some of them said that even if getting home to China was difficult, it was easier to go back than to stay in the U.S. because they have families back home.

However, the failure to resume normal flights has brought many uncertainties to Wang’s return journey.

She’s even thinking about still taking some online classes in the 2021 Spring semester.

“I don’t know when to go back because I don’t know when I can go back,” Wang said. “I wish I can go back to Orlando as soon as possible.”

Wang also takes some classes late at night, after everyone at home goes to bed.

She said she’s not averse to this kind of life. Instead, she is fine with it because online courses are easier.

“Turning night into day is normal,” Wang said. “There is a time difference.”

The time difference doesn’t bother junior hospitality management major Mai Mitsuhata much, but she said her housing situation caused more of a headache.

“I’m worried about my apartment,” Mitsuhata said. “The office said I won’t get a refund, so I have to pay the rent every month, which is a lot of money.”

Mitsuhata said she pays $650 and utilities every month, and it is difficult to sublet because most students have left campus and her belongings are left in the apartment.

Mitsuhata went back to Japan on March 21 and her original plan was to come back at the end of August.

However, as the pandemic spread in

the U.S. and the number of confirmed cases continued to rise, she decided to finish her fall 2020 semester in Japan.

Although they’re scattered around the world, these UCF students found a silver lining — spending more time with their families.

Lunch time is the beginning of Almaneea’s day with his family. His family is a large one; he lives with his wife, parents, siblings, cousins and children. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been spending a lot more time with his family.

“We try not to go out unless there is a necessity,” Almaneea said.

“Unless we visit some of our relatives, but we have to check that they haven’t contacted with anybody who has been with a person infected. There’s a lot of protocols that we follow in order to protect our family. We don’t want family members to get affected by the virus.”

It’s what the final semester of his master’s degree looks like.

The date of Almaneea coming back is drawing near. Once he gets an exit permit from the Arab government, he will come back to Orlando taking a plane to get his diploma and personal belongings, meet his friends and have his favorite American meal –

“I miss Chipotle.”

More international students outside the U.S. now are planning to come back to class as the air traffic between countries gradually begins to resume and UCF’s plans to reopen next spring. Wang and Mitsuhata said they hope to be back by the end of the year or January 2021. The life of turning night into day may come to an end when the spring semester begins.

Abdullah Almaneea, Senior public administration major, in Saudi Arabia

Mai Mitsuhata, Junior hospitality management major, Japan

Yizhuo Wang, Junior hospitality management major, in China

FALL 2020 | 24

FALL 2020 | 25

Top 10 Quarantine Activities

Food Processing Around the World UCF Alumnus works In Kenya to solve Vitamin Deficiency

The UCF community participated in during COVID-19

By Nico Garces

Being stuck inside at the beginning of the year with nothing but time, we found ourselves having lots of hours to kill. So we surveyed people on what they enjoyed doing with their newfound free time.

Here are some of the most popular activities the UCF community picked up during quarantine.

1. SLEEPING

Quarantine gave many of us extra time to sleep in and recharge our batteries. So much that, according to an April 2020 survey conducted by Evidation Health, time asleep amongst Americans raised by 20%. That means everyone enjoyed sleeping in for at least one more hour!

2. WALKING

Everyone knows walking is good for the soul.

With most gyms being closed at the beginning of quarantine and that lazy feeling from constantly sleeping in, it’s nice to shake off that dullness with a pleasant walk.

3. WATCHING MOVIES AND TV SHOWS

With all that extra time, why not break out that dusty “Lord of the Rings” box set? Or you can do what the rest of the world did and binge-watch “Tiger King.”

4. PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

Playing video games was one of the most popular options to kill time during quarantine.

Xbox had to plead with gaming companies to download updates during non-peak hours for the sake of the bandwidth of the nation, according to a March 2020 report

by Microsoft.

5. READING

Reading is one of the best indoor and outdoor activities there is. Nothing compares to curling up with a good book. The most popular book read during quarantine, according to the New York Times Best Sellers list, was “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. Did you read it?

6. COOKING

Being locked inside meant a lot of us had to start doing what we have long been avoiding: cooking.

Heating that microwave pizza does get old after all, so why not learn to make something gourmet instead of another frozen dinner?

7. TIKTOK

You would be hard-pressed to find someone that did not see a TikTok challenge of any kind during quarantine. Even celebrities like Doja Cat and Jimmy Fallon took part in the dance challenge craze!

8. PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT

Whether they were practicing or learning something new, many people took the extra time as an opportunity to learn a tune or two. The most popular instrument to learn was the guitar. Companies like Fender Musical Instruments Corporation - who had their best sales year ever, according to CEO Andy Mooney - would be happy to tell you that.

9. GARDENING

Why go to the grocery store when you can grow your produce at home? Staying home and growing your own garden became a popular hobby during quarantine. After all, who doesn’t want to enjoy the fruits of their labor?

10. KNITTING

Even former first lady Michelle Obama took up knitting during the pandemic. As one of the most enduring pastimes in history, knitting found its way back into the culture to reduce anxiety and get crafty during quarantine.

O

ne early morning in High Springs, Florida, a little boy snuck into his parents’ room as they were asleep. Once his parents woke up, they noticed their alarm clock scattered into thousands of pieces across the floor because their son had taken it apart and was curious to how it worked.

In 2008, that same little boy named Michael Druga used that exact talent and curiosity to form a food processing company known today as SinnovaTek Inc. alongside Josip Simunovic, a research professor at North Carolina State University, and Amanda Vargochik, vice president of innovation.

In 2002, Druga graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering after being inspired by his father and grandfather, who were both engineers.

Druga is able to make these highly nutritional shelf-stable food products with a continuous liquid flow microwave. Unlike a common microwave, there is a focused and more controlled single mode dosage of energy where it can maintain temperature within half a degree Celsius of a product leaving no hot or cold spots.

However, time also plays a role in achieving a high quality product.

Not only is the product organic but it is rapidly heated within 40 seconds and cooled down for another minute. That way, it can be sterilized without losing its nutrients and be stored on shelves.

With this technology, Druga’s company has been able to expand nationwide and worldwide. Before being affected by COVID-19, Druga’s company partnered with the International Potato Center

By Celina Mori

(CIP) on a project in Kenta. According to Druga, the project addressed a Vitamin-A deficiency that 40% of local Kenyan children face.

Druga discovered that sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A and can be used in bread instead of having to import wheat and flour, which is not grown in Kenya. Druga was able to ship the first install right before the ports had closed due to the pandemic.

SinnovaTek Inc. also focuses on making food processing more obtainable to small businesses, regional companies and new production launches at a lower cost.

In fact, Druga and his team built a new facility in Raleigh called FirstWave that focuses on small businesses and big brands through making baby food. This allows consumers to create a safe and healthy baby food recipe that they can sell to other companies. If the recipe becomes successful, then consumers go to Druga to install a system and provide support.

When it comes to his job, Druga understands that a typical job can become tiring. However, that is not the case with him — Druga enjoys going to work everyday and being able to help others and create new things.

“It’s just extremely motivating honestly,” said Druga. “I feel you can get trapped in a rut in your job sometimes but when you have a mission behind what you’re doing, it’s just more empowering.”

In order to improve and expand his company, Druga allows his team to speak their minds. Before the pandemic, Druga would hold a meeting every Friday called Parley, an idea he had gotten from the “Pirates of the Carribean” franchise, where he and his employees would discuss the improvements or concerns of the company.

Photos courtesy of Michael Druga

Druga is known by his team to look at the bright side and use the obstacles that the company faces to his advantage.

“He’s kind of a hopelessly positive person,” said Vargochik. “I think he keeps me kind of dreaming too.”

Nonetheless, Druga’s position also comes with a heavy price. If he is not starting up companies, he is traveling around the world, which gives him less time to see his family.

When he is away his wife, Kym Soluri Druga, watches over their two children while working as a middle school math and science teacher.

Though Kym Druga supports her husband, she can’t help but worry about the stress he goes through, especially when starting new companies.

“I actually made him promise at the company Christmas party that he wouldn’t start anymore companies in 2020,” said Kym Druga. “And then he started another company… He can’t help himself, he sees a need and fills it.”

Due to the pandemic, Michael Druga has not been able to travel.

As a way of bonding, Druga and his family worked on renovating the new FirstWave facility together along with the help of his team.

Druga has even helped teach a lesson for his wife’s students as he recorded himself explaining how water is a “perfect substance.”

As for the future of the company, Druga and his team are looking into working with five other African countries and planning a project in South Africa which would be similar to the one in Kenya but turning the waste of the sweet potato and turning it into bread.

FALL 2020 | 26

The FALL 2020 STAFF for Centric Magazine

Six Feet Apart

Finding love During a global pandemic

By Ysatis Rios-Sabat

Jasmine Cheeseborough & Thaddeaus Everett.

March 30, 2020

“If we can love each other from afar, we can love each other from up close.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder. When quarantine came around, that’s when everything started to get really hard because we were so fresh into a relationship and we wanted this adventure and this excitement — it felt like the world was putting a halt on us both. We had to learn how to communicate. We took the time out to FaceTime. We did what we had to do during the day and at night we would talk. During quarantine we saw each other once a month and it led us to spend a lot of quality time together--especially with everything being closed. When we met, I promise it felt like I just knew him, I just knew that he was the person I was waiting for. It was worth it.” — Jasmine Cheeseborough, junior industrial organization psychology major

Halee Bishop & Clayton Glorie.

March 20, 2020

“We met through a mutual friend and we began attending bachelor nights every Tuesday. On those nights we would watch the show ‘The Bachelor’ and then we started texting and talking. I jokingly told him that I would take him out once my financial aid hit. I took him out to a restaurant in downtown Winter Park and we hung out and talked a lot.

Once it was recommended that everyone stay home, he asked me if I wanted to come stay with him and my friend and on a whim, I was like ‘Yeah, I guess,’ because all of my roommates went home. Which is kind of crazy because we weren’t dating yet and we hadn’t been talking for all that long.

We became official on March 20. He’s quiet and timid and I’m very extroverted. He’s different from the boys I’ve dated in the past.” — Halee Bishop, junior sociology major

FALL 2020 | 27

Olivia Tebben & Jack Galley.

May 17, 2020

“We matched on Bumble and the first time we met in person was at the beach.

The date was in the middle of quarantine and he taught me how to surf. It was a terrible surf day, the waves were huge and I wiped out. We didn’t know anything about each other and hung out during the day for a couple hours. This was before it was mandatory to wear masks in Daytona. I first noticed that he was really hot and I wasn’t expecting him to be inquisitive and thoughtful. We made it official on May 17. I found out he lived in Miami and I lived in Charleston, South Carolina but we both had family in Daytona. He started looking at jobs in Daytona and I started looking to transfer to UCF and I think the deciding factor was when I got accepted to UCF and we knew that we were doing this for each other to see if it would work out and to make sure we could live in the same place, and we did.” — Olivia Tebben, junior biology major on the marine and aquatic track

SAMANTHA N. OLSON Editor-In-Chief

CHELSEA VELEZ Digital Manager

RICK BRUNSON Adviser

NATHALIA BELTRAN Staff Writer

JENNA Ehrlich Staff Writer

NICOLAS GARCES Staff Writer

JOHN MICHONSKI Staff Writer

CELINA MORI Staff Writer

YSATIS RIOS-SABAT Staff Writer

TANIA SIMS Staff Writer

Faye Gershman & Jonathan Agnelli.

July 2, 2020

“We were talking on Hinge and we hadn’t met yet. We met on Hinge a week before everything got shut down. I was looking for something serious, but I was going with the flow and so was he. Dating in a pandemic was kind of hard. I live with someone who is immunocompromised so we ended up texting for three months and after a while, we met up. It’s been really good because he’s someone who wants to be safe during the pandemic. We see each other three to four times a week now. Our first date was at his place and we hung out and ordered food and it eventually progressed to a picnic and outdoor seating in restaurants. We made it official on July 2. I tried not to get my hopes up too high because dating is hard, but I really liked him and I knew immediately that I’d be dating him.” — Faye Gershman, alumna, class of 2019

LEXI VAZQUEZ Staff Writer

Let’s stay connected!

Photos courtesy of each couple

CAMILA SWANSON Art Director

KEYUN WANG Staff Writer

Website: nicholsonstudentmedia.com/centric Facebook: Centric magazine at UCF Instagram: @centricmagazine

BAILEY WILLIAMS Staff Writer (Not pictured) GARRETT THOMAS Staff Writer

28 / INDESIGN MAGAZINE

Jeremy Singh on his safe and whimsical disney adventure

photo By Salomé caballero