Hi Mentees! My name is Angelica Perez and I am a junior here at UCF as a Biomedical Sciences major. I graduated Top 20 from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida in 2015. One of my favorite classes at UCF was Theatre Survey with Professor John Shafer. I enjoyed this class because the class made me start liking theatre and appreciating it more. Professor Shafer made the class interesting, funny, and he always had a story he experienced with the topic. He made us really like the class and enjoy theatre in a new way. He was always there for us and always answered our questions. Now you're probably wondering why I decided to become a mentor with GEMS. GEMS offered me the chance to meet some amazing friends that helped me get through my first semester of college and who continue to support me through my second semester. I decided to become a GEMS mentor because I want to help people know that they have someone there for them for when they have questions and when they need any tips. Knowing there is someone to answer your questions and give you tips is one of the best resources one can have. That's one of the reasons I want to be a mentor to help people with their questions and for them to be confident enough to ask their questions. Some words of advice that I would like to give you would be “”In order to succeed we must first believe that we can.”” Always remember to believe in yourself and to do what you love. Believing in yourself is one of the greatest things you can do and it will always help you get far in life. Just remember that the key to success is hard work and determination so don't give up when you have hard classes just push through and find a way to be the best at them. After all that hard work you can take a break and do things you enjoy. In my free time I love going to the gym, the movies, listen to music, watch Netflix, and enjoy my time with my friends. Best of luck mentees!