My name is Lauren Taylor, and I am a Mechanical Engineering major. This will be my third year here at UCF. I graduated from Northeast High School which is in St. Petersburg, Florida. Two of my favorite classes here at UCF have been Concepts in Computer Science and Cinema Survey. In Concepts of Computer Science, it’s your first programming class you take, and I had a great professor for it. In Cinema Survey every week you are analyzing movies and it gives you a new perspective while watching any kind of film. My favorite professor was my professor for Concepts in Computer Science, Dr. Matthew Gerber. He is great at explaining topics and has a great personality that keeps the classes fun. I decided to get involved in the GEMS program because I wanted some help transitioning from high school to college, especially coming into a STEM major. Before college I had little to no experience with anything STEM so I wanted some help. Some advice I’d give to an incoming EXCEL freshman is that you don’t need to have it all figured out now. Take your time figuring out what you want to do and don’t force it. Some of my interests outside of school are traveling, reading, watching movies, watching sports, playing soccer, and doing some form of art.