not officially associated with the university of florida...
TRANSCRIPT
By Jimena Tavel Alligator Staff Writer
The anxiety lives in the back of Nick John-son’s mind.
The thoughts are mostly dormant, but anything can wake them up, like gradua-tion — and his hurtle into the “real world” — looming closer.
Last weekend, Johnson had a nervous meltdown after not turning in a class assign-ment. The mistake triggered obsessions over imaginary scenarios: I’m going to fail the course; I’ll never graduate; I’ll have to be-come a Buddhist monk and meditate for the rest of my life.
“I’m going to be an embarrassment for my family,” he thought.
Johnson, a UF sustainability studies and geography senior, will graduate in 10 days. From April 28 to April 30, he’ll be one of 5,885 undergraduates leaving UF, with 2,443 master’s students and 420 doctoral students also graduating, wrote UF spokesperson Steve Orlando in an email. Throughout the days of graduation ceremonies, students will walk
across a stage in rented robes — some ner-vous, some sad and some ready to follow a clear path ahead of them.
But Johnson has no idea where his life will take him.
Instead of encountering a fork in his future after college, the 22-year-old is driving down a highway with 20 exits in sight. He said he’s terrifi ed he’ll make the wrong turn and wind up with regret.
His fi rst two years at UF were diffi cult, he said. Johnson was an exploratory major who thought he’d be a lawyer, but he landed on geography and sustainability studies after sophomore year. The rest of college was a struggle with attention defi cit disorder, and his fi nal year has been exceptionally nerve-racking.
He’s applied to and was rejected from two jobs for after graduation. He’s debated joining the Peace Corps, applying for gradu-ate school, moving to Arizona with his fam-ily for a waitering or retail job or staying in Gainesville for a similar job.
He might travel the world, he said. Either Italy or New Zealand or both.
He’s thought about a corporate job, but he doesn’t think he’d fi t into the environment.
“There’s something dehumanizing about offi ce jobs,” he said. “You just work as a drone, as a gear in a big machine.”
During Winter Break, he said he was of-fi cially freaking out, so he sought his parents’ advice. They surprised him by comforting Johnson, saying his anxiety was normal, and he didn’t need to rush.
So Johnson said he’s better now. Slightly. He will cross the stage April 29, and an
administrator he won’t recognize will hand him his degree. Johnson said he’ll most likely think about the lunch he’ll eat after the cer-emony instead of any grand future.
But he said he will reminisce about UF. He said he’ll crave to spend one more Sat-
urday playing saxophone with the UF Fightin’ Gator Marching Band. He’ll yearn to sing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” during kara-oke weekends in downtown Gainesville. He’ll long to hear Century Tower’s bells.
He said he’ll think about getting a gym membership and fi nding a new doctor. Soon,
ALPHA EPSILON PHI HAS
CONTROLLED THE SEAT
FOR THE PAST 14 YEARS.
By Katelyn NewbergAlligator Staff Writer
For the fi rst time in 14 years, the chair of Accent Speakers Bureau will not be a mem-
ber of the Alpha Epsilon Phi fraternity.
Shelby Buchanan, who listed member-
ship in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority on her
resume, will take over the Student Govern-
ment agency after being approved by Stu-
dent Senate on Tuesday.
Senators approved 46 others for executive
SG positions, all nominated by Student Body
President Smith Meyers, who offi cially takes offi ce today. Buchanan marks a leadership change for the organization, traditionally
lead by AEPi members, according to Alliga-
tor archives.
Only one woman has been Accent chair
since the organization’s establishment in
1967, the Gainesville Sun reported in 2010,
noting some years were missing from UF re-
cords.
Meyers said only two students applied for
the position: Buchanan and Sen. Jake Felder
(Impact, District A).
A website for the fundraiser Dance Mara-
thon at UF lists Felder as affi liated with AEPi. Felder declined to immediately answer ques-
tions regarding whether he applied for the
position or is a member of the fraternity.
Meyers said while Buchanan and Felder
were both Accent vice chairs, Buchanan was
the most qualifi ed.“I also think she will bring a healthy new
perspective to the organization,” Meyers
said.
Sen. Zachariah Chou (Independent, Infi n-ity) was the only senator to object to execu-
tive secretary and cabinet director nominees.
He argued some students weren’t qualifi ed.“I’m not going to tell you what to think,
I’m just going to tell you what I see,” Chou
told Senate members.
@k_newberg
We Inform. You Decide. www.alligator.org
Not officially associated with the University of Florida Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
VOLUME 111 ISSUE 143 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
Where do they go from here?After their athletic careers conclude, how do
UF athletes like Bridget Sloan fi nd work? Find out, pg. 18
New brewery opens up in GainesvilleBlackadder Brewing Company held its grand opening, pg. 10
UF students argue for virtual traffi c stopsThey created an app meant to make stops safer, pg. 9
FOLLOW US ONLINE FOR UPDATES
@FloridaAlligator @TheAlligator_ @TheAlligator
After 14 years, woman to head Accent
Seniors, this is goodbye
SEE GRADUATION, PAGE 4
Soon, 8,748 students will graduate from UF
Charles Hatcher / Alligator Staff
President Kent Fuchs appears on the JumboTron as he welcomes doctoral graduates, families and friends to the Fall Com-
mencement ceremony in the newly renovated Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016.
“I also think she will bring a healthy new perspective to the organization.”
Smith MeyersStudent Body President-elect