This week’s campus celebrity enjoys photography, homemade macaroni and cheese, is addicted to watching Downtown Abbey on Netflix, and will be a future educator in the Tampa Bay community.
Meet Alyssa, a senior from Tampa, FL, who is earning a degree in Elementary Education. By next year, she hopes to have a classroom full of second graders calling her Ms. Alyssa. That is the ideal grade that she wants to teach because “[the children] are so adorable and have so much excitement for learning.”
You may see Alyssa running around campus because she is quite the busy lady. Currently, she is the Director of Web Services and Public Relations for Student Government, the Vice President of Communications for UT Diplomats, a Career Assistant in the Office of Career Services, an active member of the Catholic Student Organization, a Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society member, and an Ambassador for Mary’s Meals. Alyssa is also an avid photographer and shares all of her work on her Instagram: @alyssamichelle_photography. During her free time, Alyssa adores listening to country and instrumental music while walking along the scenic parts of the UT campus and local area.
Thus far, Alyssa’s favorite moment at UT has been climbing the minarets twice. She claims that they have one of the best views of Tampa and that it’s great for pictures! Before she graduates this May, Alyssa wants to meet as many new people as she can and take advantage of making new friends from the diverse population that UT has to offer. She enjoys learning about other cultures and hopes to someday travel to Greece to take beautiful photos.
Alyssa’s proudest accomplishment so far in life is that through her membership in the Catholic Student Organization and partnering with one of her best friends, Melissa, from the PEACE Volunteer Center, they were able to put on a People Auction fundraising event for the Non-Profit organization, Mary’s Meals. For two weeks, people bid on the different services that the PEACE members offered. On the day of the event, Alyssa and Melissa showed Mary’s Meals documentary, “Child 31”. The event was a success; they raised $700!
As Alyssa cherishes her years here at UT, the advice she would give to any incoming freshman is to, “Find something you are passionate about and try to get involved. The best way to make new friends and to build relationships is by taking on new experiences and trying out different things”. In ten years, Alyssa hopes to be teaching at her alma mater and sharing her talents and passions with the Tampa Bay community that she has been a part of for so long. She would also like to see her hobby for photography evolve into more of a business and share her artwork to people.
Alyssa has many exciting adventures and memories to look forward to in the future and hopes to inspire others, as so many individuals have for her. Mother Teresa once said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless”. This quote represents the ways in which Alyssa wants to live her life, and I would have to agree that she is already successfully doing this. I know that any conversation I or someone else has with Alyssa is thoughtful, kind, and touching.
If anyone is interested in having their portrait taken, they can contact Alyssa via email at alyssamichellephotography@yahoo.com, and be on the lookout for her Facebook page coming soon!