Graduating Debt Free – Meg from University of Central Florida

Meg comes from Florida where every student is eligible for the bright Futures scholarship that can pay 100% of college tuition. Meg worked hard to maintain her grades and was awarded this scholarship and will now graduate with no student loans.

Transcription

Kamila
Hey college kids. Welcome back to my podcast who cares about college. In today’s episode, I’ll be interviewing Meg from University of Central Florida. Make sure to subscribe before you start listening and enjoy.

Meg
Thank you so much for having me. So, I’m Meg Hall, I go to the University of Central Florida. I’m currently majoring in Legal Studies. And I’m minoring in Spanish. And I’m in my third year at UCF. So I’m at junior status, and I’m from St. Petersburg, so I didn’t go too far. It’s just badly meet me a two and a half hour drive from UCF.

Kamila
Okay, so let’s go all the way back to high school or maybe even middle middle school. If this was the case for you, who initiated the college process for you? Was it you, your parents or somebody else?

Meg
Yeah, that’s a good question. So I think I have two older sisters, and they both are college bound. And in Florida, we have a really wonderful program called Bright Futures, which is run by the state legislature, and they actually use the money from the Florida Lottery to provide scholarships for students who meet certain eligibility requirements. There’s like a GPA requirement, and I say T requirement, and then you have to do 100 volunteer hours. And if you complete all of those requirements, you can attend us a four year university and have your tuition paid for your tuition is, is free, basically, if you meet these bright futures requirements, and so my oldest is there’s an i Sorry, took advantage of that. And it was just a really incredible opportunity. And so I think I kind of knew from a young age, watching them work towards that goal early on, it was, you know, as soon as you get in freshman year, you start making sure you’re on the right track to get your bright future. So you can go to college, and I think I just kind of always had that same expectation on me. And so it never really was a question of if I was going or, or how I was going. But just a matter of of where I was going, and how is it going to work hard to make sure I could get there.

Kamila
That’s interesting. So is the Bright Future Program? Is every high school student automatically eligible for that? Like they don’t have to like sign up?

Meg
Yes. So that’s nice, too, is that there’s not like a limit of only so many people get the scholarship. It’s just whoever meets the eligibility requirements. So so that is it is really a wonderful program that we’re lucky to have in Florida.

Kamila
That’s amazing. So you said that your older sisters went, participated and got the Fulbright scholarship? So did you ever kind of feel maybe, oh, maybe I want to do something outside of college? Or was it something automatic to you? Or did you feel like really pressured to get the scholarship as well?

Meg
Yeah, that’s another good question. So, um, on a personal level, no, it never really crossed my mind to do anything but college, it really didn’t. I just seen them get to go and see my older friends get to go to hear about the things they were doing. I was so so excited to go. And we really nothing could have stopped me from from going and, um, but as far as the pressure goes, absolutely, yes, there’s definitely pressure to make sure that my grades were where they needed to be. And I was getting my service hours done so that I could get the same opportunities and and do the same because I Yeah, it definitely was pressure. I didn’t want to be the one of my siblings who, who had to make my parents figure out how they’re going to, you know, pay for me. So. Yeah. Oh, yes.

Kamila
Yes. So starting freshman year, obviously, you have this expectation to get good grades and your volunteer hours. We’ll talk about a little bit later but so what were the I guess the relative grades that you needed to meet this? Like, was it like a average of B’s average of A’s? What were the expectations?

Meg
Um, honestly, I can look it up online for you. I’m just like a Florida Bright Futures requirements, because it’s actually changed slightly. In the last couple years. It’s it only gets harder, right? So I’m just as UCF that the, you know, our as we’ve been excelling in our schools been growing and our football team has been doing incredible, and we’re just becoming such a competitive school, it gets more competitive to be a student here. So already like the medians of LSAT and GPA when I applied are higher now than when I applied. And the same goes for bright futures as students in general become more competitive. The requirements become higher, so let’s see. So there’s two different scholarships within it. So one pays for I think it’s 75% of your tuition and one pays for 100% of your tuition. So for the 100% of your tuition covered, you need to have a 3.5 GPA and you need to You get a 29 on the AC T or a 1330 on the LSAT. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, I think you just need to get one of those.

Kamila
I see. So that that’s amazing. This applies to like all of Florida. Oh, I didn’t know. Wow, that’s amazing. So you obviously met those requirements? Can you give us a relative idea of where your GPA was and your LSAT or AC t score depending on which one you took?

Meg
Right so I’m so sorry, I don’t remember. But um, I know that I I was eligible for bright futures and then I when I applied to UCF I was at the high point of their expectations or or I was I was at the high point or above but since then, it has gotten more competitive and I’m it both both UCF and bright futures so I’m it I’m not sure where I would find now but um, I know at the time I was I felt very secure when I was applying I wasn’t too worried and I wasn’t too worried about not getting bright futures but it only gets harder but you never know the SCT in the and ICT might be adjusting for it as well like that as at you know, they’re always updating the test so it might be easier to score higher now as they as they adjust it every year. You know, no,

Kamila
yeah. So what did you do to prepare for the LSAT?

Meg
Right so I know we did the PSAT is in my school my school offered like practice as it is, and I always did those like you could always elect not to do it, but I always did it. And I took the LSAT a couple times I know that for sure. I I spent a quite a few Saturdays taking the LSAT but um, um, as far as preparing on my own I use the workbooks I think I use Kaplan and is that what is causing the Kaplan the one that has? Yeah,

Kamila
that’s the one I’m like preparing myself for with Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kaplan I

Meg
use that on online sites. And, and all that. So I, that’s what I utilize the most was just like a, like the workbooks that you get at from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. And, and sometimes this probably helpful, sometimes they have them at the library, you don’t have to pay for them, cuz they’re expensive. And I’m sure you know, if you’ve ever seen, there’s usually those really expensive books that are like the book of scholarships, and it’s like chock full of like a million scholarships. And it’s like, super heavy, they close at libraries, too. So if you’re looking for scholarships, you don’t want to pay for a crazy long book, you can just go to the library and sit down with it and write down some scholarships you’re interested in and find the links for the website. It’s much easier now that we have internet to find scholarships, but um, they have books like that at your public library to which can be really helpful.

Kamila
Oh, that’s, that’s amazing. Because for people who can afford the LSAT, prep books, tutors and stuff, yeah, that’s a really good tip. So you said that you wanted to get this Fulbright scholarship? Partially because your sisters, your older sisters had it and you didn’t want to be you know, left out and have your parents figure out a way to pay for it. But were you relatively like financially stable? Did you know that if you didn’t get the scholarship that it wouldn’t be too much of a burden? Were you ever really worried? Or was it just more the, like, my sister’s? Got it? Let me get it too.

Meg
Yeah, I would say it’s definitely, definitely the second one. I think that my parents, this is getting really personal. I think my parents, definitely we, they would have done anything to make sure I made it to college, and we would have been fine. You know, I think we would have been definitely stable but um, I think it comes from like the just like the principle of it, of knowing that like it, the possibility existed, that I can make that easier for them and not have to worry about that. And it just makes it easier for me to because now I’m able to to focus on other things. You know, I think they made it really nice for me where I have I have two jobs currently, but they they made it worked out for me really well. My parents were I didn’t have to work like and they told me that too. And I’m like, I’m so stressed. They’re like, you don’t have to work. It’s okay. Like, we’ll help you, which is so so kind. So I’m I’m definitely fortunate to have a family that was able to and has been able to currently support me so well. So I definitely am. I’m very, very fortunate and I don’t lose lose sight of that at all.

Kamila
That’s good. And just one last question about this Fulbright program. Does it last for all four years of your college? Oh, really?

Meg
Yeah. So Bright Futures how it works and I’m definitely encourage y’all especially if you’re in Florida, look it up. You’ve probably heard about it. If you’re in Florida, you in Florida you hear about nonstop, because everybody, at least in my high school is like you need to get free features and like I do a service hours and we were all figuring out where to do our hours and get our form sign and stuff. But um, basically you have it for four years. Well, let me see. There’s a there is a time constraint, you have to complete your degree in a certain amount of time for it to last and then there also is a credit hour constraint. So you even if you’re For years, you can’t take over however many credit hours, you can’t go into excess hours and expect great features to pay for it. And then the last thing you have to you have to maintain a certain GPA to have bright futures pay for your tuition. So if your GPA falls below a certain point, and I think it’s relatively high, it’s maybe like a, let me see, I’ve slipped that up to you. But there is there’s if you fall below a certain GPA when you’re in college, okay, I think it’s this 3.0 Yeah, students must earn the number of cars research enrollment type or no GPA. So to have it renewed every semester, and and pay for your tuition, you have to keep above a 3.0.

Kamila
That’s amazing that you have this program. Wow. Yeah.

Meg
Word is great.

Kamila
That is really great. Okay, so let’s move back to the classes that you took in high school. So obviously, you were maintaining good grades mixture of A’s and B’s, probably, to maintain that GPA. So did you incorporate any APS or IBS or honors classes into your schedule when you could?

Meg
Yeah, so I took a lot of APs. Um, it’s kind of funny, because I remember it my senior year, I took at one point, I was in seven APs. And it I know, insane, right. And it was like six in person on one online. And I remember thinking to myself, now that I’m in college, they do not like you, like APs are supposed to be college level classes, supposedly, and you’re getting college credit. But in college, they do not let you take seven classes, that’s impossible, they won’t let you do it, they maybe will let you take six under like dire circumstances, you know, but like seven o’clock classes, and college will be 21 credits. And the limit is 17 credits, I believe at UCF. And so that’s like five classes in the media, six classes, only two credit hours. So like 21 credits, no one takes that much, especially when you’re trying to do extracurriculars to on top of it. So I just you know, that’s the hard thing about AP is you don’t want to talk yourself out with too many, because you want to be overwhelmed. And then too, you have to look at what’s actually going to count for credit, because I know a lot of credits that I earned through AP exams, didn’t transfer to my university, because of just the way the classes signed up and to have that some of it didn’t have to do with my major. Really. And, um, so definitely, that’s something to keep in mind is, is APs are really, really, really good. They are and it’s a great program. But um, it takes a lot of planning. And sometimes you don’t always know when you’re taking classes, you don’t know what school you’re going to if it’s gonna count, it might count for one school and not another school and your it might count for one major and then another major, and how are you supposed to know when you’re a sophomore in high school? what school you’re going to and what major and how it’s going to apply? You know, so it is a little bit difficult.

Kamila
So by the end of high school, how many APS Have you taken in total?

Meg
Oh, my gosh, I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ll guess I’ll guess. Okay, so maybe like, I’m gonna guess like between 12 to 15.

Kamila
Okay, okay. Yeah, that is a lot. And you said that you? You said the AP program, you like the AP program and stuff. So how, how well, did the AP program prepare you for actual college classes? Where was it hard enough? Was it rigorous enough, like each individual class and the workload?

Meg
That’s a hard question, because it depends on the teacher. It depends on the subject. I feel like some AP classes were so much easier than others, but also depends on your brain. I’m not a math person. I never took AP math at all, but like a and I took AP psych I thought it was like so easy. But other people that I know took AP Psych and that was really difficult. So it, it really did, it fluctuates on so many factors. I took one AP online, I took AP computer programming, and that was so fun, really, really fun. But I’m not doing computer programming. So like, why take a call? Yeah, I mean, that credit? Where’s what did that go to? You know? So, um, um, how hard they were? And how did they prepare me for college? That’s a difficult question. Because, as I’m sure you know, it, I think it depends on your teacher. Some AP classes can be so easy, maybe even easier than honors or something depending on the professor or teacher you have. But then some of you so, so hard, harder than college. So, um, the one thing I will say is that, in college, I think I’ve benefited because I’m able to take classes that I’m better at, you know, subjects that I’m better at, because I you know, I’m not good at math. So I didn’t lead your math. And so I don’t take math, and I’m much better at reading and writing and I’m, you know, a pre law major. So, all my classes are like that, so it’s easier for me. So, um, I think it’s hard to compare.

Kamila
Yeah. And so you said you didn’t take any AP math because you knew you weren’t much of a math person. But in high school, did you have an idea of what you wanted what career you wanted to pursue?

Meg
We changed my mind when I got to college. So originally, I wanted to major in criminal justice. And I wanted to be like a criminal profiler or a homicide detective, something like that. A criminologist, maybe a criminal psychologist, and I changed my mind slightly when I got to college. And now I’m on a pre law track. And I’m not sure where I want to go from there if I want to, I’m actually really into politics now. And I think I want to run for political office, and I want to go to law school. So it is definitely different than when I first applied. My major is definitely, it’s close, but it’s slightly different. And so it is hard because a lot of people change their majors, you know, so even if I knew exactly even a new freshman year when I was going to be wanting freshman year of college, it’s different, you know, so it wasn’t until I got here, and I took some classes, I took like, Intro to Criminal Justice, an intro to Legal Studies and an intro this an intro and that I realize, okay, this is what I wanted to

Kamila
say. Okay, so we’ll talk about how you arrived at your major a little bit later. But let’s go back to the I would you say the high school transcript and stuff. So can you take us through the extracurriculars that you did in high school, at least the major ones that you put on your application?

Meg
Yeah, I think I’m true. Remember, this is such a flashback. Okay. So in high school, I was in the band program, I picked the microphone. And my junior year, I was a section leader, mellophone section leader. And then so it’s like a smaller leadership position. And then my senior year, I was beyond captain. So I was like, the, like the highest leadership position and beyond. And that was like my primary thing. That was like, what I put first, before everything I left I really incredible time. But I since I’m not in band anymore, and I’ve gotten involved in other aspects at UCF. But it’s just kind of interesting how that was, like, all I did in high school. I love bands. Um, I was in National Honor Society. I was the vice president of that. Um, and that was fun, too. It was really fun. And I was kind of with all my friends doing that. I was on prom committee. I remember junior year and I helped set up for prom. And that was really fun. I like that a lot planning for prom. I was vice president of Oh, geez, I can’t remember. Um, I was vice president of of rho Kappa, which is? It’s, um, good question. It’s, um, it’s like social studies Honor Society. Oh, not all schools have one. I wasn’t like all the little honor societies. I was in New awkwafina. That was math honor society. And we had English Honor Society. My senior year I was in that senior year. They we had one for like every subject their Spanish, their science, like we had so many artists IDs, I try to remember what else I did team CT. For my volunteer hours for bright futures, I volunteered at teen court, which is where it’s kind of like a mock park for students who are young young students who are under the age of 18. And they complete like misdemeanors. And you kind of put them through like a mock trial process to it’s kind of a Scared Straight sort of thing where you’re trying to teach them about the court system and, and encourage them to, to change their ways. So I did that. With my free time. I went to girl states, the summer before my senior year, which is like a program that you apply for where the American Legion puts on programming for you. There’s Boise State too, and they take you to the state legislature, and they put you in the seats and they do kind of like a mock government for a week. And it’s really, really cool. And I love that. And I’m trying to think of everything else. I was on academic team. For a couple years. I wasn’t very good at that. I was kind of like, there for fun. Oh, we got music Honor Society. I was in that. DJ, remember? Um, but my big thing was band I guess.

Kamila
Try No. So that’s you. Yeah, you climbed up to band captain which I haven’t heard of how band and like orchestra kind of work. You were a section leader. And then you became the band captain. So how much of your time was spent in band and like, every extracurricular teaches you something? That’s what at least I believe. So. What did you learn from band like, what skills did you develop?

Meg
Okay, so first question, how much time do I spend so much time so much. It took so much time I was getting like, it was it was like a job. It felt like a job. But aside from just being a band, and we were a very competitive marching bands, we typically placed high like the state level, we usually were like first or second at the state level. So we were very competitive. And it took a lot of time we practice. Almost every other night. We had practice from like five to nine or we had nine to nine, so 9am to 9pm on Saturdays. So it was it was big commitment band and being band kept on top of that it felt like a part time job, honestly. It was just a lot of organizing things and scheduling things, fundraisers, we, we were really struggling financially, the year that I was band captain and it took a lot of fundraising. And that took a lot of creativity and, and work. So much of it had nothing to do with band practice, but just like getting us organized. So we could go on trips, and we could pay for trips that felt like so much of it. And the half of it felt like being like one of the moms and things like, you know, like, that’s kind of what it felt like, but, um, it was really fun, what I learned from it definitely responsibility and accountability. Um, I’d never been given so much responsibility. And it was if I didn’t show up somewhere. And if I didn’t do my work, and I didn’t pull through there, it would affect everyone. So definitely a lot of weight on me to really pull through and do do everything I was supposed to do. So definitely it taught me a lot about responsibility, accountability, and self motivation, how to be driven and and get your work done.

Kamila
And the other extracurricular that interested me was, and I didn’t understand it completely was the sort of mock trial that you did. Can you elaborate a bit on though?

Meg
Yeah, that was so fun. I loved that. Yeah, Team court. Um, it was a program and I’m from Pinellas County, and it was set up but in Pinellas County, and basically, every Tuesday, you would go to the courthouse, you would sit in the actual courtroom. And students, young students who would come and most of them are like middle schoolers, or, like someone were in high school who had come in and um, they had maybe gotten a fight at school, or they had stolen something from a store, or they had broken into an area, they weren’t supposed to vandalize something. And instead of being charged a criminal level, they elected instead to go through this teen Court program, where we would kind of talk with them about what happened. And then we would sort of do like a mock trial of it, where we would have like a defense attorney and a prosecuting attorney. And then we would have a jury, and they would decide what sort of actions the student had to complete as a result. So usually, it was like community service, and like action plans to like, maybe go see a counselor, maybe go to tutoring, if their grades were low things like that. And, um, it was really, really interesting and, and I ended up getting a scholarship from that they give a scholarship to someone every year. So that was nice, because it helped me pay for school. So I really, I really loved that program. It was really cool.

Kamila
So was that also time consuming as well?

Meg
Not nearly as much. It was just it was actually it was really nice. It was just a Tuesday night thing where you just come on Tuesday nights. And it was it was it was fun. I looked forward to it. And it wasn’t like a lot of work outside. To prepare for it. You just kind of came and you. You worked with it.

Kamila
And so overall, because you mentioned you listed a bunch of extracurriculars, and that’s really good. But oh, yeah. So did you enjoy all of them? Or did you ever for example, the honor societies? Did you join them just to have something on your college application? Or did you genuinely enjoy each one and just try to like, spread your time on as much stuff as possible?

Meg
Oh, yeah, I definitely enjoyed each one. Because Oh, I forgot I didn’t newspaper. I was like, I feel like I did more. I liked that one a lot. I didn’t use some of them. I did, because there really wasn’t much to them. And my friends, we’re all doing them. And it looks good on our application. For sure. Yeah, that was really the motivation because some of the honor societies you just go to like a meeting a month, that’s 15 minutes, then you leave. I don’t know if it’s the same at your school or what but that was some of them. And I mean, I did enjoy being there. I was happy to be there, but there wasn’t much to enjoy. They’re pretty quick, you know, you have an induction and I said, you know, but um, I loved I forgot that I didn’t use paper because I could feel you did something else. I love to use paper that was so fun. I really really liked it. And I ended up I didn’t do it my senior year because I was focusing on band but I really enjoyed that one a lot. I loved writing articles and like editing the papers as an editor as a news editor. So fun. And mice what else did I enjoy though? I guess I probably dread that the most and I enjoy teen court a lot and then I joined band for sure.

Kamila
Yeah, so you took seven AP your year I don’t know how many you took junior year. You’re committed to band for like hours and hours. And then you also had a bunch of extracurriculars and some of them were like you know honor society you come once a month twice a month for a little bit. How How did you manage your time were you a good time management person or were you constantly like stressed out? That Haha, yeah, work it out in high school.

Meg
And I think I was dead. I’m constantly stressed out. But I liked being busy and I liked being important. Like, I liked having a purpose. And I think that, um, being able to have a purpose for fine. Like, I feel like I finally felt that, you know, sometimes in high school, you just feel like, you’re just like, bear, you know, you’re just going and you’re going home and like what’s, but when I was being captain, I felt like I really had a purpose, and I was being helpful. And I was making an impact. And I think that that outweighed any sort of, of stress or tiredness, I felt. So I think I mean, it was senior year, too. So it was mostly I had a great senior year, I thought it was really fun. And I liked my classes. I know I had 70 PS, but most of them I took because I had had the teachers before, and I really liked the teachers, or I had heard really good things about the teachers. And so that’s why I took them.

Kamila
Right. So yeah, your schedule seems jam packed.

Meg
At all, um, yeah, I remember being like, I remember, like, I would get to school, and I, I used I would go to bed at like 2am. And I had to wake up for school at 6am. Or I would go to bed at midnight. And I would wake up at four to like, do something in the morning. And, and I remember though being like really like excited about a lot of the things I got to do, because I got to, you know, I got to give speeches and stuff at at different ceremonies and I got to give speeches at BM banquet. And I got to talk at the end of every class and given notes, mints and like, do things in the morning. And like, I just loved my I really loved it. I love my friends. It was I had a really good motivation. Because I loved the people I was with every day. It felt like a job in a way it felt like I was going to work every day, I think. But it was it was like if you love your coworkers, I look back on it very fondly. I don’t regret anything. I don’t regret being so stressed. Maybe I regret taking so many APS because I a lot of them didn’t transfer a man like maybe I could have taken an easier and I’m like thinking about I think I could have gotten into UCF maybe taking things a little bit easier. But overall, I liked my teachers a lot. And I had a good year. So yeah, no, I don’t regret anything. It was really

Kamila
fun. That’s amazing. And one thing about your AP is did you take a piece with the intention of them transferring and then perhaps going deeper into your major? Or did you take them with the intent of graduating a little bit early?

Meg
Yeah, honestly, I took a piece with the intent of being a competitive applicant for colleges. There wasn’t Yeah, I honestly when I took a class, I wasn’t like, oh, this will apply to my major, this won’t apply to my major, I wasn’t sure exactly what my major was going to be. And I ended up changing it. I took a piece because I said was gonna make me competitive when I apply for college. So I think I was I was really focused on one thing, and that was getting to where I wanted to get into so

Kamila
yeah, and that’s kind of good segue as to like, what we’ll talk about next, how did you create? How did you create a college list for yourself?

Meg
Um, well, I kind of knew I was always going to go in state because a big thing was pricing in state is just so much cheaper, and we had bright futures and, and all that. So it was kind of not really a question of if you’re going to stay in the state. And as far as in the state, I was pretty familiar with the other schools, like I said, two older sisters. So my oldest sister went to University of Florida. And then my second IMS I mixed up, my oldest is going to university, the Florida State University, sorry, mix it up Fire State University. And then my second oldest, the middle one went to USF University of Florida. And then I’m the youngest. I went here to UCF. And um, I, my dad went here to UCF and I used to go to games with him sometimes. And I just, I just loved it. Even as a kid. I was like, I loved it. And when I would go visit my sisters, I didn’t feel the same way. And I even went to like band camps over the summer with like summer band camps at FSU. And so I had been at the at the schools before and been a little bit familiar with them. So it wasn’t really, I kind of always knew I liked UCF best. And so I did have like a little list of where I applied. But um, I never really sat down and ranked them I think, because I it wasn’t really a question. I just kind of always kind of known that this is where I wanted to be. So yeah, it wasn’t I don’t know, I didn’t go through like a whole process.

Kamila
So you applied in in Florida, right? Because you would get that scholarship. And so you only applied to a few which are I guess, I don’t know how many universities are in Florida, but I don’t think they’re like 1000 or something right? Yeah. So you apply to those and which university did you get accepted from differed from and rejected from?

Meg
Well, ultimately, I remember doing really well. And then I even applied to like some like I applied to UNFPA, which is a little bit of a smaller when I remember they offered me a scholarship. I was like, oh, like I was kind of torn at the last second. I was like maybe I like them. But my big thing was UCF and I was accepted. The first time I applied. So it was, it was good. I one thing I will say kind of, to Off topic a little bit I appreciate when universities, um, I wasn’t deferred anywhere. But I appreciate when they kind of defer you I knew some people who are deferred, and then they, they came back and they scored higher on the LSAT or they brought their GPA up, or they they added some extracurriculars, and they apply it again, and they got in. I had a friend who did that at USF. And I know this is kind of random, but I just think that’s really cool. Like, I think all universities should be open to that. Like, if you work hard enough. If you are you told if you’re told not first, but you work hard enough. And you you get things like that you should be able to apply again and get in. So sorry. That’s just the kind of like my soapbox. But that wasn’t the case for me anywhere. But I just I don’t know, I think that to me, that says a lot about university. I think that’s really cool.

Kamila
So you applied to universities and colleges in Florida, and you kind of always knew that you were going to go somewhere in Florida because of pricing and stuff. Did you ever consider like, oh, let’s apply to some major, prestigious school to just see if I’ll get into you ever do that.

Meg
I don’t know if it’s prestigious, but I applied to Penn State. And I don’t really I just I loved it looking at it online. I’ve never been to Pennsylvania, I don’t know, I looked at pictures of it. And it’s called Happy Valley. And I was like, that’s where I belong. Happy Valley, you know? And, um, I just loved it. And so I applied there and I got in and then it was just it’s so it Penn State isn’t really like an expensive school on the surface. It’s just out of state for anywhere is much more definitive date for for UCF. You know, and so, um, it was just, it’s not like it’s an insanely expensive school. It’s just out of savers and state fees. And so I didn’t and also I don’t know anyone in Pennsylvania, my family’s like you don’t We don’t know anyone there. No one lives there to like, any we don’t know the area or anything. They’re like, what are you doing, but I loved it. And I’m not I’m looking for law schools. I’m really strongly considering schools outside of Florida. And I’m looking at Penn State again. So it hasn’t left me. I’m still thinking about it. So

Kamila
yeah, maybe you’ll find your place and happy. Maybe yes, thank you. So you get into UCF. And this is the summer before you’re going to go into your freshman year of college. And I guess you already knew UCF because you went with your dad and you knew you were familiar with the school. So coming in, were you less nervous than maybe an average student because you knew the school so well?

Meg
Oh, um, that’s a really good question. I probably not, I didn’t know it like the back of my hand or anything. I just kinda like a couple football games. And um, so I think I was probably so nervous. But what helped was I was able to go a week early and move in a week early because I did sorority recruitment. And that was really really fun. And I got to like walk around and get to the campus well and move in and get settled. And and before the big rush where everyone’s at Target and it’s crazy. It gets crazy during moving weekend so I got to kind of skip all that and get comfortable so I would say I don’t know if it was really being visiting the school beforehand as much as moving in a week early really helped.

Kamila
Okay, that’s good. So when you did you move into you move into dorms, right? How did you treat your dorm mate? And once you once you were assigned to dorm maybe it was random? How did the relationship work out? Did you end up loving your dorm made hating? Were okay with them?

Meg
Oh, yeah. So um, my roommate freshman year, we all had our own rooms I lived in towers, and I’m still in towers right now as the name of the the dorm right now I’m an RA. So um, I actually this is like my room right now you can see it’s like a little studio. That’s my kitchen and my beds actually right here like next to me. And that’s my kitchen in the bathrooms over there. So it’s just me and this little like studio, which is pretty fun. But um, my freshman year, it was like, it’s like an apartment where I lived and it was really cool on campus, right by the stadium, and right by the football fields, you walk to games and stuff and it was four bedrooms and four bathrooms. And so it was nice because I wasn’t like sharing a room or anything. So as far as like my roommates I think we got along really well. I don’t remember any sort of conflicts or anything like that my I roomed with one girl for my high school was so nice. And she was just so so sweet. I remember she got a cat our freshman year and I was so happy because I love cats and I would take care of her cat when she went away for the weekend. It was so fun. I really really liked rooming with her would that’s

Kamila
that’s interesting. So was this a like a first come first serve thing or does University of Central Florida just in general give people apartment style dorms?

Meg
Yeah so you staff is really nice. I’m gonna go this a great school. I love this school. This school is not like it doesn’t look like a college it looks like a resort. I’m gonna guys if you want to look at photos and stuff. I love UCF so much I do. And it’s crazy because a lot of other schools It’s like every dorm room you like share rooms, and they’re like old and stuff. But UCF is kind of a new school in general, especially the infrastructure. And it for a long time, it was a commuter school. So most of the dorms are really new and nice. And so there’s only like one dorm on campus where you share rooms, I think, and the rest are kind of apartment style, where you all have individual rooms. And, um, towers is where I live in. It’s really nice. The apartment style, I’m trying to think there’s like, four or five other housing, buildings, housing, air, like I’m gonna call them like, developments, maybe because this tower is actually four different buildings. And each one has like 500 people in it or something. So quite a lot.

Kamila
Because UCF is a huge school, I think is like one of the largest student bodies. Yeah, we have 70,000

Meg
students. Insane. It’s a really big gap. It’s really big. And so this is just one of the housing communities. That’s what they’re called housing communities. And um, it’s really, really nice. And it’s all apartment style, but most most at UCF are so it’s really hard to get it helps it keeps everyone happy and calm. And everyone’s getting their sleep.

Kamila
Yeah, because I remember when I interviewed people, like, I’ve interviewed people before, and most of them hated their first year dorm mate or dorm, because they like I guess part of it was because you live in close quarters, you’re in the same room sleeping during your homework. But that’s, that’s great for you. So did the friends that you had, or the dorm mates you had in freshman year? Did you continue to room with them? Did any of them become really close friends with you? So did you form friendship that way? Or did you form friendship through other stuff? Like classes and extracurriculars? Yeah. So

Meg
um, I’ll tell you for sure. So I’m kind of random, because I’ve moved around a lot. Lots of people. I think what’s typical is people live in dorms their freshman year, and then they usually move in an apartment off campus, or something, usually, and then they stay there for like the that’s what both my sisters did is they were in dorms, freshman year, and then the second year, they moved in an apartment. And then they stayed in that apartment for three years until they graduated is a little bit different. So I lived in the dorm my freshman year, and then my summer after my freshman year, I was an orientation leader. And so, um, they provide housing for you. So I moved to a different dorm on campus. And it was still like, everyone had their own room. And it was nice, it was nice. And, um, I liked it there. And then my sophomore year, so I was just for the summer. My sophomore year, I lived in the sorority house, with my sorority sisters, which is also on campus. And that was really fun, too. I love that a lot. And then now my junior year is this year, and I got a position as an RA. And so I’m I live in towers again, I’m back where I was freshman year, about this time, I’m an RA so I kind of moved around a lot. But my friends, um, I, I was friends with my roommates. Whenever I see them, I still talk to them. And I really am lucky because they were so nice. But um, where I really like my friends. I’m really close to you. I met through my extracurriculars. So most of them I met through my sorority this August,

Kamila
really? And so are you still part of your sorority? I am. I see. And how did you I guess get involved with the sorority? Did you know immediately you were going to do it? Did your sisters influence you? Really? How did you happen upon it? It was kind

Meg
of random because um, my sister’s neither of them did shorties. Um, and my mom was in one when she was in college, but then you hear a lot of stuff now about you know, that sometimes they have bad raps and stuff. So um, my mom was a little bit nervous for me. But luckily, I’ve never experienced any sort of, like, inappropriate or bad anything in my sorority that they’re the kindest, most beautiful, respect. Respectful girls, like so lovely. And I haven’t had to deal with any sort of stuff that you might see in the movies or the news. Yeah, luckily, it doesn’t it doesn’t exist in my sorority, which is so nice. And, um, um, but no, it was kind of random. It was just that my roommates also that they were going through recruitment, and they were all moving in a week early. And I remember being like seeing that in our group text. And I was like, Well, I don’t want to move in a week after them. And they’re all friends without me. You know, they’re really my motivation was I didn’t want them to all become friends without me moving in a week early. And then I come in late. And like, it’s awkward, is what I was worried about. So I was like, I’ll just do recruitment, and then not run home anywhere. And then I did recruitment, and I love Kappa, which is where I went home to those, my sorority and I had the best time and then I was involved in I was like, on the exec board. I was a secretary. And then I was a real gamma. And like, I just got super involved with it. And I’m still involved with it now. So it was kind of happenstance.

Kamila
Yeah, so let’s move on to just kind of part of it. Let’s move on to your extracurriculars. So coming onto campus freshman year, sophomore year. What extracurriculars did you get involved in? How did you get involved? Were you super motivated to get involved are you kind of have to realize oh, five Want to make friends? If I want to do something with my time, then I have to look for different extracurriculars that I want to do.

Meg
Yeah, I was super ready to be involved. I was literally, um, they ecfs Like a website called nightconnect, really, of all the clubs and stuff. And I was like, over the summer before I had even gotten an orientation. And like, before I even, you know, like, moved in, I was making lists of all the things I wanted to join that looked fun. And so when I got to college, I was ready, I was ready to like, go, I was like, I’m gonna be so involved and like, have so much fun and have all these positions. And I have been so fortunate, through UCF to have gotten so many opportunities. So, and I love this school. I do I love it so much. And I just feel like I did not expect to get everything that I did. And I like what, like I’ve gotten some it’s just so great. So um, I came in ready to go though, I was really ready. And so I started with my sorority and then I joined Student Government Leadership Council, which is like an intro program for freshmen. And then I did a lot of different things like that was kind of long, but I did make bond, which is like dance marathon. And it’s really fun. All colleges have that. So if you interview people, they probably will talk to you about their dance marathons and stuff. And then my big involvement was I was an Orientation Leader over the summer, and that was really cool. And then, um, my sophomore year, I was I helped with homecoming. I was like a homecoming coordinator. And then I was really involved with my sorority. I had a lot of physicians within my sorority, which was really fun. And then my spring semester sophomore year, I participated in this internship program called the legislative scholars internship program. And they basically send you to Tallahassee for a semester and they suit you out with all this, they give you a place to stay and everything you need, and a nice scholarship and you intern for either a lobbying firm, a state senator, or a state representative. And you spend the whole semester in the legislature, helping helping your representative and you get to go to the house every day in the Senate every day and see, like the bills get passed. It was so fun. And I interned with a lobbying firm called gray Robinson. And they’re like, very, like so, so wonderful, and a really influential firm in Florida. So it was really, really cool. So I loved it. And then now, I am an RA. And I’m on President’s Leadership Council, which is like an an advising Counsel to the President of the of the College of the University. Dr. Card is our president, so I get to meet with him and his wife. And we do like advocating for our art clubs. And then I’m very involved with student government and Governmental Affairs coordinators. That’s what my shirt is from. And I was just doing a presentation right before this about teaching people about the ballots because we’re right in the middle of election season, and showing them how to break down the ballot and analyzing the amendments and stuff. And I’m also on Moot Court, which is a competitive team. Kind of like mock trial, but a little bit different. And I love it. Yeah.

Kamila
You have a lot of extracurriculars in college. So about that internship that you did in the, in the semester of yourself. Now here. Was that? Did that help you determine your major? Or did you come upon your major before that? And then say, Oh, now I know that my major is going to be this. I’m on the pre law track. I should try to intern for somewhere. So take, can you take me through that a little?

Meg
Yeah. So um, it? It’s good question. I had already determined my major before I applied for this program. And I really just wanted to be in the program. Really, I had it, it was so funny, I all I did was see a fire for it. And I was like, I have to do that. I’m gonna do that. Because I like I was like, that’s what I want to be. And, um, and then, um, I was like, Oh, you had to like major or minor and certain things like political science, Legal Studies, or something else or public admin, one of those three, I think, and, um, I was like, Okay, I’ll minor in Legal Studies, just so I can do the internship, but I ended up changing my major to that just kind of irrelevant to the internship program. And, um, I loved it. And then I, I did the program. And, um, I had the most wonderful time. And so yeah, so it was kind of irrelevant to my major. And it didn’t it didn’t influence me in changing my major, but it did influence me. And that made me want to run for political office.

Kamila
Can you? I mean, this. This sounds really interesting. I love them programs. Can you tell us a little bit more about the program like what you did on a daily basis, because you spent a whole semester there, and you’re mapping out so can you tell us about that? How you balance your schoolwork and what work you actually did?

Meg
Yeah, for sure. So um, I interned for a lobbying firm. And so, a lobbying firm Basically, they have a bunch of different clients. And they go to politicians, members of our Florida House or Florida Senate, and they advocate for those clients. And so they might have big clients like big corporations like, like airports, or things or theme parks might be a client. And also a client might be like a nonprofit, like, um, like, I don’t know, just, for example, like SPCA or something like a like a, like an animal shelter might be a client that they they have pro bono, and they just go and advocate for. And basically, they go to legislatures, legislators, sorry. And they say, I want you to pass this because it will help them and they say, I want you to not pass it, I want you to stop it because it does this. And that’s bad for my client, where they go and they say, Hey, like, can we make this happen, we have this idea of Do you want to like, get on this bill and hop on this phone, let’s make this happen. And let’s get money for a new sewage system for this city. You know, stuff like that. And it’s really, really cool what they do. So um, my apartment was I went to a lot of meetings, committee meetings a lot. And I did reports for clients. And I would write about what happened in the meeting. And I would write about how the bill is doing. And I would do bill updates. And I would do like weekly memos, and things and then every now and then, I would actually get to like show clients around with my boss, I can take them from meeting the meetings they can meet with like the legislators. And that was really, really cool. I love back the most. And then sometimes I’d answered questions, too. So like, if they had a question about a bill, like a new amendment comes out to this bill. And they’re like, what, how does this affect me? I would say, let me see. And then I would like kind of like write a report, or like, um, answer some questions they had about, like, how does this bill impact you? And or how does this change impact you and your company or you and your, your business, or just you as an individual? So um, it was really, really fun. I loved it a lot.

Kamila
That sounds amazing. Wow,

Meg
it was so fun. Yeah.

Kamila
Was it a hard to get into program? Or was it like, you had to have a few requirements, like GPA and such? And then you could get in?

Meg
Yeah, there is. There’s only requirements. There’s GPA requirements, and, um, it’s a pretty intense interview process. And then you had to get, I think, three letters of recommendation, which is a lot. Um, I think there’s a lengthy application. So it was a process to get it. It was Yeah, who is it was a process, it takes a while, and you have to go through a live training and stuff once you do get in?

Kamila
I see. And how did that work with your actual schoolwork as well? Yeah. Did they allow you to like, take a pause, and they counted the work that you did as credit? So how did you balance that with school?

Meg
So it fluctuated depending on your major, how much it counted for on the internship? For me for legal studies, basically, it counted as like two classes. And so it kind of like six credit hours. And so part of having bright futures is that you need to be taking full time in order for Bright Futures to cover your tuition. So I had to take two classes full time is four classes. So I had to take two online classes while I was doing an internship to keep my bright futures.

Kamila
Okay, Okay, interesting. So you have a lot like you do a lot, not just internship, but you have a bunch of extracurriculars. So how do you balance that with schoolwork? Because you do need to meet a certain requirement to get that scholarship? And how do you do your extracurriculars and just manage your social life as well?

Meg
Um, question, well, I mean, this pandemic is thrown everything for a loop.

Because life as we know, it is not normal right now. It really isn’t. And I’m feeling it a little bit at college especially where you’re just in the midst of this, you know, it’s so much more than just working from home. It’s, you know, you’re working from home, but you’re at college. And you’re, it’s just, it’s like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before. So this year is different. But for for the most part, it just for me, I love to be busy because the busier I am the like, back here I am, because I’m like, don’t have time to like sit around. I’m like sitting around and being bored. It makes me feel like I don’t like being not productive. Because it makes me feel like I’m like wasting my time or like you should be doing something. So um, um, yeah, I I definitely like it as far as like time management. I think just taking it one day at a time and and you know, I don’t party thing. That’s the Big Lots people think oh, go to college, and I’ll go to parties and stuff and I just, I don’t do that. And I don’t know if if that makes a big difference. But I think if you if you don’t go out and and be wild, then you probably have a lot more time.

Kamila
That’s true. Yeah. And I want to move on to one last subject before we end here. The scholarship that you get, you said it either covers 75% Or like full tuition. So which one which one do you have?

Meg
only covers full tuition. So it depends on your it depends you have to get it. It’s like the requirements are different for 75% You have to have a certain GPA and a certain LSAT AC t, and then do 75 community service hours for 100% you have to do you have to have a higher as at a higher AACT higher amount of volunteer hours. And so I have the one that’s 100%

Kamila
That’s amazing. So a lot of people I don’t maybe it’s becoming more like a thing now, but a lot of people go to college and they pull out a lot of student loans and they have to pay back for the rest of the rest of their life. So how much more of an advantage do you think you are compared to other people considering that you’re not gonna have any student loan debt?

Meg
Oh, man, I mean, I can’t even imagine I’m knowing so fortunate. It’s a huge it’s it makes a huge difference. Yeah, cuz I mean, it affects everything and affects what how picky you can be when you graduate. You know, if you don’t have loans staring you down Traver seven, you can take the time and pick a job you really want versus like, taking just any job because you need to get money because he started paying your loan. So yeah, it’s definitely not something to, to. It’s it’s a big deal. And it’s it’s not nothing to to have to graduate debt free versus to graduate with with a lot of loans. We should be really thankful for this opportunity. Yeah, that’s,

Kamila
that’s amazing. I had no idea about this, like I knew about the program, but I didn’t know if like, apply forever. You were eligible. As long as you were a student in Florida. That’s amazing. Wow. Yeah. It’s

Meg
really great. Yeah. Okay, so

Kamila
we’re coming to an end here. And the last thing I do with these, with these episodes is I want you to give two pieces of advice. One is for current high school students, they can be freshmen, sophomore, junior senior, what advice would you give them as they’re in high school right now? And then the second piece of advice is, what advice would you give for students who are going into college or since the beginning of the school year starting college? So can you give us some advice there?

Meg
Yeah, my first one for the high schoolers is really take the time to assess your mental health. And say something if you are feeling down and you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for help I’ve been seeing in the news especially it’s, it’s a really difficult time. Mental health wise, because of this pandemic, for our youth that you have in America, especially because you’re used to seeing your friends everyday and you’re doing school from home, it’s really, really hard to not be seeing your friends every single day. And I’m definitely say something if you need help, that’s my advice. And because because it makes it makes a difference. We want everyone to be really, really safe and healthy. Not just from COVID, but mentally healthy, too. And then my advice for them, if you’re entering college or just starting is get involved, pick one thing and get involved because I promise you the people who fail college or quit or decide to go home, are not the ones who are too involved. They’re the ones who are in their rooms, playing video games, eating pizza, like a Super Mutant Ninja Turtles every single day, like, and you’re not gonna you’re not gonna fail, because you’re too involved. Don’t become two of them. Don’t go crazy, you know, I mean, but it’s more likely that you get to college, don’t have your mom waking you up every morning or encouraging you to go out and, and, and do things and you you get into this state where you’re playing video games and hours day and it makes it harder to be, you know, encouraged to go and get your work done. So become involved, just pick one thing because it’ll lead to a lot more.

Kamila
See. Oh, and I like to smoke. The last thing I just want to know a little bit about your plans for like the future. So you said you’re on the pre law track. So what like degrees? Like, I guess graduate degrees? Are you considering or maybe like taking a break and then going to do a graduate degree? So what are you considering right now?

Meg
I’m considering law school and getting a law degree. And so I’m planning to apply next year, um, because that’s gonna be my senior year. So yeah, I’m planning to get my law degree and then I want to be either a prosecuting attorney or I want to practice international law.

Kamila
Well, that’s amazing. And I wish you all the best. I wish you the best of luck to you. Yeah. Thank you for coming to my show. And I hope you have a good night.

Meg
Thanks. You too. How can I you too. Bye.

Kamila
Bye. That concludes my interview with Meg. Next week. I’ll be dropping an interview with Emma from University of Central Florida as well. Make sure to subscribe so you do not miss that. But other than that, I hope to see you guys