As soon as the scent of boiling pureed strawberries and sugar reaches her nostrils, Sara thinks of home. Sara Arboleda, 24, remembers making strawberry jam with her mom as the days grew cooler and holiday

By Maggie Powers   Maddie Bottenhorn, 21, has many hobbies that she makes time for despite her strict academic demands as a plant, molecular and cellular biology junior.  One of her favorite hobbies is cooking.  Despite

U.F. student/violin repair specialist, Amelyse Arroyo, preserving musical history By: Derek A. Smith When you enter Gainesville Violins you’re instantly overwhelmed by the surplus of beautiful French woods and fine tuned strings: violins, violas and cellos;

By Erica Aguiar Mia Kelly is a knockout. Literally. Kelly, a first-year psychology major at the University of Florida, is a world champion kickboxer. Kelly began kickboxing when she was eight years old, after getting her black

By Dana Burke When ordering music online, most people rely on iTunes. When ordering music from Paper + Plastick, people must rely on Patrick Haynes. Haynes works as the mail-order guy for the record label, packing

By Emily Moschner Neal Shepherd’s only knowledge of cycling sprouted from an admiration for Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France. Since then, Shepherd, 18, has trained twice at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs,

By: Jasmine Labrousse   When students walk past their dorm’s kitchen area, there is a good chance they will be able to figure out what someone cooked just by its smell. Sometimes it can last for

By Hyunji Yoon Flecks of white powder and dark green liquids that have sloshed out of their bowls cover the blue counter.  A mixture seeps through a black grid until the Beep!  Beep!  Beeeep! makes

By Ashley Crane Crooked rows of fruits and vegetables envelope the tiny carrot-shaped sign that greets the home of Haley West, reading  “Comet Farm.” A giggling 3-year-old stretches the bottoms of his feet on a wooden

By: Emilie Shinskie At 14, Lauren Yockey begged her dad for a horse. Four years later, she begged him to let her bring the horse to college with her.

By Samantha Burroughs Young writer hopes to answer questions left behind Cara Snider, 19, has a secret world tucked away between the files of her schoolwork and her lists of things that need to get done. Snider,

Flight instructor uses skill to teach others Luis Savigne knows what it feels like to fly amongst the birds, see the beauty of the Earth from thousands of feet up and watch the sunset and

When Jody Schaible fashioned two old spoons as makeshift window curtain tiebacks, he never imagined that within a year he would have his own line of art and his work displayed in the Florida

Some worry about natural disasters like tornados, earthquakes or floods. Charlie Brown worries about an impending zombie apocalypse. “If a natural disaster hits, there’s only so much I can do to protect myself, but with

By Ilana Lifshitz While most doctors’ signatures are scribbled and illegible, one future surgeon will defy that norm. She’ll have the most beautiful signature that someone in medicine ever has. Chelsea Woolford, a 20-year-old English major

    By Jenna Lyons Marguerite ‘Peggy’ Toigo loves to keep the fellas waiting.   “That feels so good – When they sit in for an appointment and say nah, I’m waiting for Peggy,” Toigo said.   Toigo, 53, already

By: Lauren Adamson Olivia Martin, 22, ate vegetarian lunches made by Krishna devotees at the University of Florida for three years before she attended one of their programs. Now, Martin rooms with fellow Krishna devotees while

UF student carries love for cartooning into his free time By Landon Watnick One day in his kindergarten class, Oulianor Timothee reached into his teacher’s pencil box, grabbed a fistful of crayons and then sketched out

By Amy Stuart Christopher Moore, Casey Walsh and Christopher Tebow, juniors, communicate quite efficiently when setting fire to houses, entering zombie-infested dungeons and intimidating butlers in dark hallways. Twice a month, the crew meets up at

How to Find Treasure with Kelli Slaughter from Monivette Cordeiro on Vimeo. By Monivette Cordeiro Finding beer cans and rusty screws doesn’t stop Kelli Slaughter from searching for a secret treasure every chance she gets. “Most of

    Jemima Douyon is all smiles as she pours the stew she cooked into four blue bowls.   Her roommates from last year have just arrived for a their monthly reunion and Douyon is the mandatory chef.

By Korrie Francis With one foot steady on a jagged rock and her long arm tightly gripping another above, rock climber Cynthia McElvey carefully ascends the wall with perfect form. McElvey, 22, who majored in biology

How to make a pair of earrings from Meg Wagner on Vimeo. By Meg Wagner Kristen Stoner has quite a collection – flowers, bees, footballs, trumpets, butterflies, and even a mariachi band – stored in her

By Rachel Crosby When Rachel Walkover was a 3-year-old, she made the mistake of thinking Worcestershire sauce was chocolate. Though her family never let her live it down, she’s come a long way in everything

By Kelly Price As Van Morrison croons “Brown-Eyed Girl” from her laptop’s speakers, bakery manager Nancy Trifilletti glides around her tight workspace in the secluded back room of Patticakes bakery and coffee shop. For three to

How to Find Treasure with Kelli Slaughter from Monivette Cordeiro on Vimeo. By Monivette Cordeiro Finding beer cans and rusty screws doesn’t stop Kelli Slaughter from searching for a secret treasure every chance she gets. “Most of

By Maggie Powers Penny, a Philadelphia native, began professionally working as a nail technician in her junior year at Palm Beach Gardens High School in 2001.  She initially got into nails because of the good

By Derek Anthony Smith Ladies and Gentlemen: I present to you Amelyse Arroyo, a pistol packin’ Puerto Rican with a love for violins.  Arroyo, (24), a Gainesville local who is currently working on her Master’s

By Jenna Lyons Marguerite Gaisser, 53, is a people person. She says it’s a must for her profession. She’s a hair stylist. “ You gotta listen to people and really like em,’” Gaisser said. Gaisser has been

By Erica Aguiar Upon first glance, Mia Kelly looks like an average college student. But underneath her simple exterior is a champion. Kelly, a first-year business major at the University of Florida, is a world champion

By Jordan Gale Sarasota, Fla.,– How many people can say they have been up in the clouds for 15,000 hours and up in the air teaching for over 9,000 hours? “I have been doing this for

By Emily Moschner His only knowledge of the sport sprouted from typical admiration of Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France. But in 2006, Neal Shepherd, 18, left behind his hometown in Michigan and mediocre soccer