January 2020

Leslie Urgelles, Florida Gulf Coast University, Graduated Fall 2019

Major: Forensic Studies & Criminal Justice with a Minor in Anthropology

Career Goals: Become a forensic anthropologist and work for a medical examiner's office or in the FBI

Biggest surprise about the college experience: How amazing some college professors can be; how terrible college advisors can be; how important making connections are for the real world.

Most challenging coursework in college: Statistics and Chemistry; both were very time consuming and required A LOT of studying. Having to create my own research and collect/analyze data from scratch was just as challenging.

Accomplishment most proud of: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018 President's List (4.0 GPA); Fall 2018 Dean’s List (3.5-3.99 GPA); admitted into Honors College; presenting research at the Sociology Research Symposium; completing a week of service with Alternative Spring Break in New York; Student Leader for Honors Immokalee Immersion Service Trip; Secretary for Lambda Alpha Epsilon (Forensics and Criminal Justice Academic Fraternity)

Can you provide any advice to our current Knights? 1) Start planning early; 2) visit the schools you are interested in; 3) apply to as many scholarships as you can (nothing feels better than getting a refund check); 4) organize and create a schedule because you will get overwhelmed quickly; 5) try to get internships while in college even if it’s not required. Getting hands-on work experience related to your field of study is amazing on a resume; 6) appreciate Milian while you have him. College advisors do not know their information or care the way he does; 7) save as much money as possible. Scholarships help with tuition and meal plans, but you need to spend a lot of money on essentials for your dorm; 8) have a plan B and C, always! Things may not work out the way you want them to; 9) learn to cope with stressful situations in healthy ways. Eat healthy, exercise, and dedicate free time for yourself. Talk to a professional if you need to; 10) make great friends that you can create memories with. Do not throw yourself into your studies and let 4 years pass you by without any memories.

I paid for college with…: Florida Academic Scholars Bright Futures and Florida Gulf Coast University President's Gold Scholarship

Fondest memory from high school: The Senior Award ceremony and being able to show how appreciative we were to the faculty that helped the students in our grade succeed. Senior Prom was an incredible memory. GradBash was amazing! Freshman year in Mr. Veiga's Virtual School class was so much fun.

High School Graduation Date: May 31, 2017