Courtney Thomas

"One Child, One Teacher, One Book, and One Pen can change the world. Education is the only solution" - Malala Yousafzai

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      tAs my time at the University of Florida comes to an end all too soon, I’m left here thinking about not only my future but about my journey throughout these past 3 years. I’m proud to say that I’m not the same person I was when I first walked into my dorm room back in August 2014. In fact, we shouldn’t be afraid of change because, if anything, change is the one guarantee we have in this life. Although I’m graduating college earlier than I had originally anticipated, I’ve come to realize that I have learned everything I can from UF.

       However, although right now in my life I’ve realized that UF has fundamentally changed my life in a positive way, UF wasn’t always my top choice. After visiting London during the summer of 2016, I realized that I wanted to go to Kings College London. Although my SAT scores quickly shut that dream down quite fast, I knew that it wasn’t meant to happen for a reason. Rather, I was meant to be chomping my way throughout college at UF as a Florida Gator.

       Although I knew my passions were in politics and internationally focused classes, majoring in International Studies and Political Science was a stretch for me. Not only did I have to defend my choices because, “STEM is the future,” but I had to constantly answer what exactly it is that I’m studying. With the current push toward STEM, it’s hard to remember the necessity of studying social sciences and learning more about the ever-changing and every-globalizing world. International Studies has not only allowed me the autonomy of allowing me to pick the classes that interest me personally but has allowed me to become educated in different global and intercultural issues that are prevalent in our ever-growing globalized society. As one of my professors and the Department Head of International Studies Dr. Jacobs said best, “An Engineer can tell you how to build a bridge but an International Studies student can tell you what the affects are of building that bridge in that particular area.”

       During my sophomore year, I heard about the beginning of a new program called International Scholars Program that offered the ability for me to further internationalize my degree. ISP allowed me the opportunity to step outside the classroom and clubs and look at global events from a new perspective whether that be going to the Harn Museum’s Museum Nights and looking at Monet’s exhibit to attending talks with prominent experts in their field about crucial issues in today’s world. I think this exposure outside the classroom is crucial because a person can only learn so much from a textbook.

      By further internationalizing my degree – both inside and outside of the classroom – I have gained not only a greater appreciation and understanding for each country’s unique culture but also their citizens. Even though two people may live on the other side of the world and come from two completely different cultures and ways of doing something, it’s crucial to remember that there’s power in knowing and accepting our diversity. Every person on this planet has experienced something that has shaped who they are today.

       Overall, I’m not the same person who walked into that African Experience class back in August 2014. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The sole purpose of going to college is not just to simply obtain a B.A./B.S. degree; rather it is to make you uncomfortable with the comfortable, think and challenge your views, and to find something that sets your soul on fire. As fear and ignorance seems to becoming more and more popular in today’s world, I think we now have a duty to combat this rise with education. Just like Malala said, “Education is the only solution.”

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