Hi, my name is Stephanie McDonald! I am currently in my second year at UCF majoring in Biology and minoring in Health Sciences. I graduated from Pembroke Pines Charter High school in sunny South Florida. I would say that my favorite class at UCF so far was Biology 1 (BSC 2010) with Dr. Diercksen. Her PowerPoints were very straight forward, which made more difficult concepts easier to understand. Dr. Diercksen provided lots of extra study like study guides and videos. She definitely has to be one of my favorite professors. Walking around such a huge campus made my college experience a lot less personal than I'd like it to be. EXCEL has genuinely provided me with a smaller community in such a large university. At the end of the week it was always a relief to meet with other people of common interests and majors. EXCEL's socials were a great way to bond with other mentees and get to know your peers. GEMS really provided me with a strong backbone coming into the university. My mentor last year motivated me to stick out my math class even though it was not my strongest subject. She inspired me to make a difference in my mentees' college experience. I hope to show my mentees that they too can thrive and flourish in their STEM majors. The best advice I can give is to find time to join clubs that make you happy even though it might not relate to your major. In my free, I love to watch Netflix, play tennis, go to concerts, hang with friends and family as well as visit museums.