Feature Stories

Explore a selection of my non-deadline and feature stories below.

NSM.today • February 4 2024

UCF alumna and real estate entrepreneur pushes toward $1 million

She’s confident, she’s ambitious and she’s driven. UCF alumna and Realtor Alexandra White is making strides in the world of real estate after graduating in 2019.

During her time as a student White was accepted into the UCF College of Business’s Professional Selling Program, a competitive mentorship program that only accepts 35 exceptional students each year who show potential and promise in the fascinating and lucrative field of sales.

White was recently invited back to the university by her f

NSM.today • November 6 2023

Florida law prohibiting diversity sparks concern among UCF students and faculty

Students and faculty are concerned a Florida senate bill that passed earlier this year will negatively impact higher education due to cuts in funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and censorship of educational curriculum.

Dr. Larry Walker, vice president of UCF’s Black Faculty and Staff Association and assistant professor at the College of Community Innovation and Education, said he is worried the jobs of his fellow colleagues are at risk.

“We want to make sure that there are no

NSM.today • October 3 2023

Knighthawk Audubon hike for red-cockaded woodpecker

With binoculars pointed up toward the sky, members of Knighthawk Audubon stood silent and motionless as they listened to the distant chirps of a bird that they could only hope was the red-cockaded woodpecker.

On Saturday morning, 15 members of the UCF chapter of the National Audubon Society embarked on a hike through Hal Scott Regional Preserve and Park with a mission to spot the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

Although the red-cockaded woodpecker has been on the endangered species list si

Naples Daily News • May 26 2023

Neo-Nazi group flyers left in Naples Park didn't target specific people, CCSO says

A Texas-based neo-Nazi group that recently distributed flyers in a North Naples neighborhood tried to intimidate minorities especially, says a civil rights group.

Seventy Ziploc bags containing flyers that stated “IT’S OK TO BE WHITE” were distributed on Naples Park driveways the morning of May 14 ― Mother’s Day ― by the Aryan Freedom Network. Collier County sheriff’s deputies said they collected the bags, which also contained rice to act as a weight. They also said the “suspicious incident,” a

NSM.today • April 28 2023

UCF Professor utilizes virtual reality to treat PTSD in critical illness survivors

Not everyone leaves the hospital with a smile on their face after being cured of a critical illness. For some people, a stay in the hospital means developing post-intensive care syndrome and PTSD.

Dr. Brian Peach has initiated a clinical trial testing the use of exposure therapy to treat those who suffer from the mental health ailment he has seen impact his ICU patients firsthand.

Peach, an assistant professor within the College of Nursing and an ICU nurse at Orlando Health, said in January, h

NSM.today • April 27 2023

Children with ASD learn self-defense skills at the Family Judo for Autism program

Children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder fill the halls of the CHPS Rehabilitation Innovation Center and put on their judo gis in anticipation of throwing around a fifth-degree black belt judo master every Saturday afternoon.

Once a week for 45 minutes, kids ages seven and up have the opportunity to participate in a 16-week martial arts class that teaches them basic self-defense techniques. Dr. Jeanette Garcia, director and primary investigator of the program, said the Family Ju

NSM.today • April 21 2023

Nursing alumni join together at the College of Nursing Alumni and Friends Reunion

The chatter of dozens of UCF nursing alumni filled the halls of the Celeste Hotel on Saturday night as they sipped on glasses of chardonnay and reunited with past classmates in anticipation for this year’s College of Nursing reunion.

Although an annual event, Victoria Wright said this year’s College of Nursing reunion boasted a record attendance of 170 people in comparison to last year’s 130. Wright, the assistant director for alumni engagement for the College of Nursing, said this is because i

NSM.today • March 5 2023

UCF professor works to address gender-based violence

When she's not baking treats for her two daughters, Dr. Bethany Backes is busy developing solutions for the types of gender-based violence that exist in our world and at our campus.

Backes, a New Jersey native, is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, School of Social Work and the Violence Against Women Faculty Cluster at UCF. She said she is always working on a new research project and is the primary investigator for a project at UCF called the Care on Campus program, w

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