My name is Maddy Olive and I am a sophomore Physics and Computer Science Major. I graduated from A. Crawford Mosley High School in Lynn Haven, Florida, in 2023. My favorite class at UCF so far has been The Human Species with Dr. Pete Sinelli. I took it as a GEP requirement, but it was very interesting to learn about the evolutionary history of the human species, and Dr. Sinelli clearly loves his work. My favorite Professor is Dr. Tanvir Ahmed. He is a computer science professor, and I took Intro to C and Computer Science 1 with him. The coursework is pretty difficult, however he teaches it very well and clearly knows and loves what he does. I like GEMS because on such a large campus it was nice to immediately get to know other girls that were going to be in my classes for the next few years. This made the transition to college much easier and gave me an automatic study group for some of the harder classes. In my free time away from classes and homework, I love going to Disney with my friends. We also frequently go to the gym or various club meetings. I also like going to the football games, and other sports when people I know are competing.

Words of Wisdom: Don’t wait to ask for help. Even if you’ve never needed it before, you will at some point in your college career and it’s always better to ask early.