The best part about being a
student at the University of Florida is that I can make my stay here as
productive and interesting as I want.
The College of Agricultural and Life Science has truly inspired me to
be, as my friends and family call me, a forever student.
Now I don’t mean that I can’t
decide what I want to do, although that does have some merit to it. After all, who knows the exact course of
their life at 22 years of age? So, you
might ask, what am I talking about? I am
talking about the fact that when I graduate in the Fall of 2013 I will have two
B.S. degrees and a minor from the prestigious University of Florida. I will have been here for nine amazing
semesters, traveled to four different countries and become fluent in another
language all because of my love of learning.
When I first came to UF, I didn’t
have a plan. I changed my major after I
was accepted, but before I even made it through my first semester of general
education classes. AKA I had preview over summer and changed my major in fall. I changed my major to exploratory because I
was so interested in both hard and social sciences and I wanted to find a
subject that covered both. At this
point, I had no idea where my academic life would go. Or how long it would
stretch…
When I changed my major the second
time (to Natural Resource Conservation) my adviser asked me what I wanted to do. Now like any other freshman, I didn’t know
what I wanted to do, but I told her my ideal: working with people and promoting
natural resources. Her words to me would
shape my next 3 ½ years at UF. She asked
me if I had ever considered a minor in Agricultural Communication.
Oh how that appealed to me! What
an opportunity! I get to take all the fun classes in a major, only take like 5
classes in a subject, learn new skills and reach my career aspirations. Just the idea of taking leadership classes
and personality tests for college credit sounded exciting!
I love my classes in groups and
teams, effective oral communication and other interesting topics. Just having these few classes in a topic gives
me an entirely new set of skills to promote on my resume. I can now write press releases and use
specific design programs.
Taking on a minor has made my
undergraduate experience so exciting and has exposed me to some entirely new
ideas. In fact it is my minor in
agricultural communications that is inspiring me to go to graduate school.
If you’re looking for a way to
truly optimize your time in college or if you are a forever student like me,
then a minor is the way to go.
It also really helps the
indecisive people like me who don’t know exactly where they’ll be a year from
today. If you’re interested in multiple
subjects, minors satisfy your curiosity. If you want to see if you are law
school material, there’s a minor for that.
You want to learn another language? There’s a minor for that. You want business skills? There’s a minor for
that. Every minor had different
requirements, but they give you a gist of what the subject entails. I guess that’s just the value of minors!
My minor, ironically, has shaped my future. So thank you Mae, for the best advice any adviser has ever given me, and as always, Go Gators!
My minor, ironically, has shaped my future. So thank you Mae, for the best advice any adviser has ever given me, and as always, Go Gators!
Michele
 |
Michele Goodfellow
Class: Senior Hometown: DeLand, Florida Major: Natural Resource Conservation and Spanish Minor: Agricultural Communications Involvement: Collegiate FFA Secretary, Sigma Kappa Sorority, Society of American Foresters Chairwoman, Forestry Club Hobbies: Reading, Travelling, Water Sports After College: Plans to teach English in Latin America for a year before returning to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in Communication Studies or Leadership |
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