“UCF: Stands for Opportunity”. If you have any affiliation with UCF, you have probably heard this slogan before. For me, I can relate to these words on a personal level. I’ve always been proud to be a UCF Alumni, and as time goes on I gain more respect and admiration for my Alma Matter. Not until taking a step back did I realize how far my school has progressed in the past few years. UCF recently received tons of national recognition for their athletics program when the UCF Knights Football team beat Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl. Undoubtedly, this achievement alone arose questions such as, “What and Where IS THIS UCF school?” and “What is it all about?” in the minds of many across the nation.
As a lot of people already know, UCF is in Orlando Florida, a detail I will touch on shortly. However, a few many only know that this “up-and-coming school” (ranked 5th best in the nation for this category) is the 2nd largest University in the United States. UCF is a leader amongst other universities in the research field alone. Not to mention, they have recently opened their own School of Medicine, they have a wide array of regional campuses, and are ranked as a “Top Tier National University” and a “School To Watch” by US News & World Report. The development of infrastructure on UCF’s main campus from 2005 when I arrived, until today stands alone as a true testament to the school’s prosperity. As a wide-eyed freshman 9 years ago, new to Orlando and Florida in general, I’ve watched an insurmountable amount of advancements and growth occur here and I could not be more proud.
While working on my undergrad at UCF and participating in some extracurricular programs, I developed an outstanding relationship with an influential woman named Carol Ann Dykes who is part of the UCF Business Incubator. Carol Ann invited me to an event that I attended last week called “Speed Dating Startup Style”. This function was hosted by UCF’s Launch Pad. Aside from offering me the great experience to network with young UCF Entrepreneurs and hearing their ideas, I was also able to catch up with an old professor of mine- Dr. Cameron Ford. He enlightened me to some of the exciting advancements he has made in the development of UCF programs centered on entrepreneurial activity. Learning about the evolution of the UCF Entrepreneurship opportunities, such as the CEL (Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership), and the Blackstone Launch Pad was invigorating, and only reinforced my faith in UCF and Downtown Orlando’s prosperity and synergetic relationship.
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One of the main reasons why I constantly recommend UCF to those looking into pursuing education is because of the unique community that the city of Orlando has to offer. The constant & continuous growth occurring in East Orlando is analogous to the growth of the University. I believe that the University’s growth comparably affects the growth of Downtown Orlando as well. To me, East Orlando’s close vicinity to Downtown Orlando makes attending UCF that much more opportunistic for those considering schools.
I like to think of Downtown Orlando as a little big city. It has so much to offer essentially any type of lifestyle. Not only was a brand new, state-of-the-art Amway center finished a few years back, but the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts along with a few new high-rise buildings are currently in the works as well. Even though the former things I consider to be outstanding advancements, the talk of a few additional major development projects and economic influx into Downtown Orlando and its surrounding areas, that gets me even more excited for this city. One in particular is the Creative Village, in which the vision states “focusing on creating a true ‘live, learn, work, and play’ urban destination through a development plan that supports a synergistic and dynamic mix of uses including office/creative studios, higher education, K-12 education, mixed-income residential, retail/commercial, and hotel.” In addition to the ‘Creative Village‘ project, is the general project to expand commercial and residential development towards the Citrus Bowl. The city plans to achieve this through the gentrification of the Paramore District (which you can read about it here). This is all very exciting to me as I live, work, and play right in the heart of Downtown Orlando.
Orlando as a city is very diverse as is the array of businesses and cultures that exist within it. Orlando is a fantastic place for the entrepreneurial spirit. Many of my peers, myself included, own and operate businesses in the Orlando area. We have all utilized Orlando as a stepping stone to launch ideas and watch aspirations come to life. It is through my experiences at UCF that I learned what I needed to know to be able to get the most out of Orlando as not only a creative platform, but also as a gateway for my high ambitions.
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I wrote this blog as a reflection from an article I read a few days back titled “UCF may expand its downtown presence in a big way“, as seen in the Orlando Business Journal. Another article on MyFox35, “UCF considers expanding presence with large Downtown Orlando Campus” provides some more information as well.
This video is a great testament to my viewpoints about “The City Beautiful”, and reafirms the ‘uprise’ that I describe in this blog: ORLANDO RISING TRAILER
