Dec. 12, 2017

At SMI, “I knew I had found my people”

I am a freshman at the University of Florida. My story begins during my junior year of high school. My best friend stumbles across the College of Journalism and Communications Summer Media Institute website. I beg my parents to send me. I attend. Everything else falls into place.

I attended SMI the summer before my senior year. I couldn’t wait to go. I came from a high school with a small journalism program. If you were interested in journalism, you were confined to the one and only period of yearbook. The only people who understood my passion for journalism were on the yearbook staff. SMI was different. Everyone there was connected by a passion for journalism and communications. In high school, I was the girl with the camera. At SMI, 30 other kids had cameras around their neck. I knew I had found my people.

At SMI, I spent five hours a day working on a yearbook with 17 strangers and my best friend. I was in heaven. Staying in the classroom until 11 p.m. with pizza, coffee and cookies to get us through the night is one of my fondest memories. During the other classes and keynotes, it felt like the instructors were speaking to my soul. Everything they said resonated. There was an excitement to learn at SMI. The more I was immersed in the world of journalism and communications, the more I knew that this was the path that I wanted to follow.

SMI was so much more than just taking classes. It was the college experience. It was a snapshot of what my future at UF would be like. My nights at SMI were my first memories at UF. Whether it was staying up late in the commons room playing cards and building forts, or mattress surfing down the fourth-floor hall, everyone at SMI was having the time of their life.

SMI is ultimately the reason I chose to enroll in the UF College of Journalism and Communications. While I was there, I fell in love with everything about the J-school. Weimer Hall, the home of the college, was the first place I experienced on campus. To this day, it remains my favorite spot on campus. The UF campus had a certain sense of spirit. Being there just felt right. Standing in the empty stadium you could almost hear the thousands of fans cheering on the Gators. I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to join the Gator Nation.

Now here I am, proud to be a Florida Gator. My experience at SMI gave me a head start on college. I felt one step ahead of everyone else. The instructors at SMI are now my professors and mentors. The SMI dining hall is now where I eat dinner. The dorms at SMI are the same my friends live in now. My college transition was easy because of SMI. I was prepared.

Two years later, I know I ended up in the right place. That’s how it should be.

Karina Elwood, of Melbourne, Florida, is a first-year journalism major at the UF College of Journalism and Communications and the student program associate for SMI.

Posted: March 27, 2018
Category: Testimonials