They say our senior citizens are the most wise and experienced people you can meet, and the (much younger) seniors at UF are no exception. All of the experienced fourth years at UF can really teach you a thing or two about thriving in this huge lively UF communit.. So whether you’re an incoming freshmen, or have been here for three years, every senior has a valuable piece of advice to share. This week, Isabelle Alison, a senior telecommunications major, shared her sweet UF memories with me.
1. What’s your go-to Starbucks order for a late-night study session?
“Iced chia latte with coconut milk.”
2. Where do you go after a night out for food and what do you get?
“Oh, for all my crazy nights out, I probably go to Relish. And my order? I get a single Tasty with cheese and corn and lettuce and avocado and tomato. Yeah, I think that’s it… and fries.”
3. What’s the best place to go for a wild night? Best place to go for a chill night?
“So, a chill night I can do. I’d probably say Curia on the Drag. Maybe Boca Fiesta [for wild night] ‘cause they have really good margs.”
4. What’s one of your craziest memories?
“A few years ago a couple of my friends had motorcycles. So this one night they invited my roommate and I to go out for a ride with them and it was such a spontaneous thing. I mean, I’ve ridden before, but never as a social thing. So they take us like way out past, down town, and we were like flying. And I’m not going to say how fast it was ‘cause it was totally illegal. And we were flying down these back roads and there was crystal clear sky and you could see all the stars and it was gorgeous and it was just one of my favorite memories.”
5. Something you did you never want your parents to find out about.
“It’s not that I haven’t done crazy things, but they know — I’ve paid my way through college! I’ve made some not super responsible partying decisions, but that was like freshman year. Oh, I went to a Fourth of July party and it was, like, kind of off campus, downtown-ish. The people I went with all hooked up with other people. So they were staying there, so I walked home by myself at like 2 in the morning. I mean, I was fine. I was sober enough!”
6. Favorite class taken and why?
“I think it was called Advanced Writing for Electronic Media [RTV3101]. It was one of the first like, what do they call it, critical tracking? One of the first classes I took in my major after switching to telecom…My whole background was in writing, writing and writing. And then when I switched into telecom it was more visual, which was cool, but I missed the writing…[the class] was like screen writing. So it was the first time that I kind of married the two: writing and visual storytelling. So it combined both of my passions. And I loved the teacher [Professor Babanikos].”
7. Favorite class at the gym?
“Oh my God (laughs). I just kind of go and do the elliptical. I mean, I don’t really go to the gym ever, but I guess a yoga class. Yoga is good.”
8. What was your favorite and least favorite thing about UF/Gainesville?
“Oh God, how much time do we have? Can I be cheesy and just say the friends that I’ve made? There’s not a whole lot of stuff to do, though. And we don’t get a lot of live music. There’s not that many artists that come in town, and I love music so it sucks to have to drive to Orlando or Jacksonville to see someone.”
9. Any regrets or things you wish you did?
“Hmm — I don’t know! That’s hard! I guess I wish I had gone to more games, but I’m not here in fall, ‘cause of IA [Innovation Academy].So I went to pre-games my entire college career. And that counts basketball games, too. The other thing is I feel like college is place where you’re supposed to try different things or explore new interests and try stuff you never tried before. And I feel like I didn’t have that much flexibility in my schedule to try that much.”
Plenty of good advice, mixed in with an entertaining story. Alison definitely has a way of making you feel like you’re her best friend you could come to for some real advice. What do you think your answers would be? If you have some amusing answers of your own, or know someone who would, let me know on our Facebook page @HerCampusUFL, and I may just interview you next! And if you didn’t see a question that you thought of on this list, feel free to make suggestions on our Facebook page, too.