Valedictorians and Student Spotlight
2006 Commencement
Student Spotlight: Liz Mikell
Beating the Odds
Each
student graduating today has, no doubt, overcome his or her own personal
obstacles in order to attain this achievement in their lives. For Elizabeth “Liz” Mikell,
it has been an uphill battle against the most important tool a college
student possesses—her brain.
On the first day of summer vacation following her sophomore year at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, Liz was involved in a serious car accident in which she suffered a severe brain injury. When she awoke from a two-week coma, the entire right side of her body was paralyzed. The 16-year-old had to relearn how to hold her head up, walk and talk. Her family thought she would never be herself again and she wasn’t— instead she was much stronger.
Liz returned to high school only a month behind and graduated in 2002 with honors. She was admitted into UF and has maintained a 3.98 GPA, receiving only one B+ her entire time in school. She graduates today with highest honors with a BA in communication sciences and disorders. She has been admitted into the university’s MA program in speech language pathology and plans to work with patients with brain injuries. “I have experienced the power of speech therapy and what it can do, so I really empathize with the people I am going to serve,” she says. Liz has accepted a graduate assistantship through her department, as well as a position as a speech language assistant at Tacachale, the oldest and largest community for the developmentally disabled in Florida.
Valedictorians
The following students have maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average at UF.
- Sarah R. Bidmead
- Emily B. Bourne
- Jennifer M. Burner
- Ariel L. Caplan
- Eric D. Chernoff
- Anthony P. Colombo
- Christopher J. Cook
- Megan M. Daly
- Katie Jo Drane
- Jessica Fandre
- Christopher R. Fields
- Kimberly J. Freedman
- John W. Harter
- Alec J. Jarvis
- Christopher W. Laws
- Joann Lee
- Geneva M. Massiello
- John J. McGetrick
- Marissa A. Rewak
- Carolyn G. Robinson
- Aurora C. Sartori
- Sarah J. Schott
- Douglas K. Sparks
- William N. Spicola
- Charity J. Tubalado
- Katherine E. Waselkov
Outstanding Graduates
Outstanding Four- and Two-Year Scholars
The following students have been named UF Outstanding Scholars, and each has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average. In addition to strong academic achievement, the selection committee considers curriculum, awards and honors, and research or other work. Four-year scholars must have started as freshmen at UF and have no more than minimal work at other institutions. Two-year scholars must have earned an Associate of Arts at a Florida community college and have completed the remainder of their degree at the university.
Four-Year Scholars
Jennifer
M. Burner, a political science major and Russian minor from
Merritt Island, Florida, also has earned a second degree in telecommunication
from the College of Journalism and Communications. She has interned for
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and worked as a legal clerk at Hayden
and Milliken, Pennsylvania. Burner served as president of Floridance,
UF’s original student-run dance company, and was a reporter for
WUFT News 5 and WRUF-AM 850. She competed against professional journalists,
winning first place in the 2005 Florida Associated Press Broadcast Awards
in Public Affairs. She also received first place in both the Long Light
News Feature and Long Hard News Feature categories in the 2005 Florida
Associated Press College Broadcast Awards. She plans to pursue a career
in political journalism.
Anthony
P. Colombo, a chemistry major with a minor in business administration,
is from Winter Springs, Florida. He conducted research analyzing the
theoretical treatment of transition metals and assisted in spectroscopic
experiments under research advisor Philip J. Brucat. Colombo, who was
awarded the Colonel Allen R. and Margaret G. Crow Outstanding Scholar
in Chemistry Award, is an active member of the Student Affiliates of
the American Chemical Society. He has taught an upper-division course,
Analytical Chemistry Lab, for two semesters. He will attend graduate
school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a Ph.D.
in physical chemistry.
Katie
J. Drane, a communication sciences and disorders major from
Newberry, Florida, is a member of the Signing Gators club and the National
Student Speech Language and Hearing Association. Drane, an Anderson Scholar
of Highest Distinction, has volunteered at the Girls Club of Alachua
County and Lake Forest Elementary School, assisting in the hearing and
language-impaired preschool program. She also has served as a teaching
assistant for Professor Michael Tuccelli’s American Sign Language
classes. Drane hopes to attend graduate school at UF to pursue a degree
in speech-language pathology and plans to become a speech-language therapist
at an elementary school or pediatric hospital.
Christopher “Ryan” Fields,
a religion major with minors in history and philosophy from Jacksonville,
Florida, is a member of the Honors Ambassadors, Phi Eta Sigma and has served
as president of Reformed University Fellowship. A student in the Honors
Program, Fields was named an Anderson Scholar of Highest Distinction, inducted
into Phi Kappa Phi honor society and selected to the University Scholars
Program, conducting research in Edinburgh, Scotland. He will serve as a
2006-2007 pastoral intern at Creekside Community Church and later hopes
to participate in the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society and Law in
Colorado. He also plans to pursue a Master of Divinity degree in preparation
for pastoral ministry, and would like to eventually pursue a Ph.D. in theology.
Marissa
A. Rewak, an anthropology and psychology double major from Palm
Beach Gardens, Florida, is a W.W. Massey Presidential Scholar, an Anderson
Scholar of Highest Distinction and a McLaughlin Scholar. A former volunteer
at Gainesville Pet Rescue, Rewak also has served as a volunteer undergraduate
research assistant to Anthropology Professor Susan Boinski in her primatology
lab, Psychology Professor Brian Iwata in his behavioral psychology lab,
and Anthropology Professor Stephen Brandt in his archaeology lab. Her
honors thesis explores the dispersal patterns of capuchin monkeys in
Ralleighvallen, Suriname in South America. She plans to pursue a Ph.D.
in preaparation for a career in research.
Two-Year Scholars
Kelly
M. Dunn is an English major from Stuart, Florida. She received
the Dorothy E. and Theodor R. Latwaitis Memorial Scholarship Award from
the English department for her paper “Recognizing the Image: Sight
in Paradise Regained.” Her honors thesis is titled “‘All
Maner of Thynge’: Malory’s Narrative of a Wife.” Dunn,
who has a 7-year-old daughter and is expecting the birth of her second
child in June, plans to purse an MA and Ph.D. in English at UF, focusing
on medieval and early modern literature.
Four-Year Honorable Mentions
- Ariel L. Caplan, Psychology
- Eric D. Chernoff, Economics, Marketing, and Psychology
- Kimberly J. Freedman, Psychology
- Sarah J. Schott, Mathematics
Outstanding Female and Male Leaders
The following students have been named UF Outstanding Female and Male Leaders. The selection committee considers the quality and scope of leadership activities, university-wide leadership experience, special awards and recognition, and recommendations from faculty, staff and students.
Andrew L. Hoffman
A
psychology and English double major from Boca Raton, Florida, Andrew
L. Hoffman has interned at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
and the White House.
He has served UF as a Preview orientation leader, president of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Council and the Rules and Ethics Committee Chairman in the Student Senate. Hoffman, who has served as the sole student voice on several faculty committees, is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Scholar.
This summer, Hoffman will intern at the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Secretary, Privacy Office. He will attend law school in the fall.
Marni L. Jacob
Marni
L. Jacob, a psychology major and mass communication minor is
from Boca Raton, Florida. As chair of the Student Government Agency AAREST
(Acting Against Rape: Every Student’s Taskforce), Jacob created
and implemented sexual assault awareness programs on campus, such as
self-defense workshops and “Take Back the Night.”
She has been an active member of the Student Senate, the J. Wayne Reitz Union Board of Managers, the Emerging Leader’s Conference, and is a member of Florida Blue Key. She plans to pursue a career in clinical psychology.
Kelli Anne Murray
Kelli
Anne Murray has earned a bachelor’s in economics from
CLAS and a second degree in finance from the Warrington College of Business.
Hailing from Miami, Florida, she has served UF as a member of the Florida
Cicerones, Student Government and the Women’s Leadership Council.
As a volunteer for the North Central Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross, she teaches community courses on CPR, First Aid and HIV/AIDS education. She was a peer leader for the First Year Florida course for entering freshmen and served as the director of Gatorship and the secretary of Informing and Developing Emerging and Active Leaders (IDEAL). Murray plans to attend law school in the fall.
Bigad H. Shaban
Bigad
H. Shaban, a political science major from Sunrise, Florida,
also has earned a degree in telecommunication, with a specialization
in broadcast news, from the College of Journalism and Communications.
He has interned with the Weekend Today show on NBC and The Miami Herald, as well as worked as a desk assistant for ABC’s World News Now. Most recently, Shaban served as the weekday evening news anchor for WUFT News 5. He is a J. Wayne Reitz Scholar and a Jim Kerlin Broadcasting Scholar, and also served as a member of the UF Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees, and as president of the Florida Cicerones/Student Alumni Association. Shaban plans to pursue a career in broadcast journalism as a television news reporter.
Honorable Mentions
- Jeremy R. Martin, Economics and Finance
- Russell A. Semmel, Political Science
- Richard D. Shane, Criminology and Business Management
Doug Belden Award
The Doug Belden Award honors outstanding academic, athletic and leadership achievements exemplified by Belden, a former UF football quarterback in the 1950s.
Justin
W. Zumsteg, a Michagan native, graduates with dual degrees in
physics and astronomy and has maintained a 3.98 grade point average.
A member of the UF Men’s Swimming and Diving Team, Zumsteg finished
fourth in the 400m medley relay at the U.S. Spring National Championships.
He earned academic All-Conference and All-American honors and also was
named the 2005 Southeastern Conference Men’s Swimming and Diving
Scholar Athlete of the Year. He served on the executive board of the
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and founded “A Night With the
Stars” program designed to bring elementary school children to
campus to explore the astronomy department’s observatory with student-athletes.
He has been inducted into the UF Sports Hall of Fame and the UF Hall of Fame and was named a UF Outstanding Male Leader. Zumsteg was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and after touring Europe this summer, he will attend medical school in the fall at the University of Michigan on a full scholarship as a Dean’s Scholar.
Tracy Caulkins Award & Outstanding Female Leader
The Tracy Caulkins Award, named in honor of the 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medalist and former UF swimmer, recognizes academic and athletic achievements, as well as community involvement.
Sarah
E. Lowe is a Spanish and political science double major with
a minor in criminology and a certificate in international relations.
A native of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, she has maintained a 3.9 grade point
average and played point guard on the UF women’s basketball team,
serving as team captain for three seasons. She received the 2005-2006
H. Boyd McWhorter Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Award and the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Women Sport Scholar of the Year Award.
Lowe is a member of UF’s Honors Program and was selected as a Florida Cicerone and a Presidential Host, serving as an official ambassador for UF. A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Lowe is a member of the UF Hall of Fame, Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and Mortar Board. Her future plans include pursuing a professional basketball career overseas and eventually returning to the U.S. to pursue a joint degree in international affairs and law.
