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How One Student Turned Tragedy and Self-Doubt into Success at UCF

Jenna Marina Lee — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:02:22 +0000

As Preston Strenth prepares to cross the stage at commencement, he finds himself flashing back to the moment his journey to this milestone started in 2023 with the South Carolina National Guard.

Strenth was on deployment in Kuwait with his unit. Among his fellow infantrymen was 20-year-old Jayson Haven. Haven had been accepted to his dream school, the ��ֱ�� of Michigan, and was fulfilling the final two months of his year-long assignment before shipping off to college. He was tragically killed in a non-combat vehicle rollover accident.

“I think all of us who were on that deployment understood you’re here and somebody else isn’t. What are you going to do with your life?” Strenth says.

“I think all of us who were on that deployment understood you’re here and somebody else isn’t. What are you going to do with your life?”

Seven months later, Strenth envisioned that life and voiced his goals to his wife, Kriselle. He proposed a two-year timeline to earn a college degree in computer science and start a new career path.

“I feel like everything in my life now is all clicking together,” says Strenth, who landed three job offers before graduating and is in the process of purchasing his first home. “I have achieved the American dream in a sense.”

As a member of the South Carolina National Guard, Preston Strenth connected with the Office of Military and Veteran Students Services at UCF and accessed their resources to land an internship with BNY, which he turned into a full-time job. (Photo by Daniel Schipper)

The Right Place

A Central Florida native, Strenth moved to South Carolina at 17 and joined the National Guard two years later. He extended his contract twice — his current contract ends in 2027 — as he pursued a degree in criminal justice from the ��ֱ�� of South Carolina.

He took advantage of the educational benefits the U.S. Army offers and obtained a certification in computer programming, which introduced him to coding software.

After that fateful deployment in Kuwait, he and his wife set their sights on Orlando and UCF, where Strenth knew of the university’s reputation as one of the nation’s top military friendly schools, its strength in computer science and our many industry partnerships.

Learn more about Preston Stenth’s journey from his .

“Without a doubt, coming to UCF is the best thing I ever did,” he says.

His credits from the ��ֱ�� of South Carolina transferred over to help keep him on track for his two-year timeline. He thrived, in part, because of his willingness to take advantage of the many resources offered through the .

His experience here also tested him in ways that led to great growth and confidence.

In his second semester, while taking Computer Science I, he was stuck on his first programming assignment. Every time he willed the coding to work, he was met with the same result: fail.

His frustration turned to tears as he voiced his doubts to his wife. What if he just screwed up his life? What if he couldn’t do this?

She encouraged him while leveling with him at the same time — he wasn’t the first to attempt this class or this degree. If he wanted to be here, he was going to figure it out.

She was right.

“I think that is kind of the point — they will make you go to that line and ask yourself, ‘Do you want to be here?’ ” Strenth says. “Because it’s a program that can lead you to a financially stable future. I have offers that no one in my family has ever had in front of them before. But you’ve got to work for them.”

Preston Strenth on his first day of a summer internship with BNY in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Preston Strenth)

Opportunity Calls with BNY

He applied that same grindstone mentality to maximizing opportunities outside of the classroom — all the while driving to South Carolina once a month to fulfill his National Guard duties.

“I have offers that no one in my family has ever had in front of them before.”

In Spring 2024, he attended a lunch and learn with BNY, which was organized by the Office of Military and Veteran Student Success. The leading global financial services company announced a formal partnership with UCF that establishes a co-located educational innovation hub on ��’s main campus — the first-of-its-kind in Florida.

Strenth turned the connection he made with the BNY recruiter into a summer internship as a software engineer and vowed to himself to secure a job offer.

He wasn’t deterred by the fact that many of his fellow interns had started programming as middle-schoolers while he, at 24, had just learned the basics a year prior.

He committed to being the first one in the door and one of the last to leave. He reached out to fellow veterans he found in an interdepartmental staff directory to seek advice about integrating into the company. He emailed a weekly recap to his supervisor that listed how his accomplishments that week aligned with BNY’s core values.

“I was trying to showcase that I wanted to be here, and I wanted this job offer more than anything,” Strenth says.

When the internship ended, he stayed connected, even as he lined up another software engineering internship with Hatalom Corporation, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business.

Strenth had three job offers lined up before graduation day with BNY, Hatalom and Northrop Grumman. BNY’s career growth potential, military leave policy and proximity to his home were too good to pass up.

“BNY has a future leaders program that I’ve already expressed interest in even though I’m not eligible for another two years. But I’m already telling them, ‘This is something I want to do. How can I?’ ” he says.

He draws upon that memory of his conversation with his wife from years ago — in his story, he refers to it as “the gamble” — as he sits here today, once again, betting on himself.

“Now two years later, I’m like, ‘We won. We did it,’ ” he says. “Celebrating this moment at graduation is a testament to the sacrifices that my wife has made, my family has made, and the countless other people who have supported me to get to this point.”

U.S. Department of Education Taps UCF to Lead Civil Discourse in Florida

Jenna Marina Lee — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:22:35 +0000

UCF is the only institution in the state of Florida selected to address the U.S. Department of Education’s civil discourse priority as part of its Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education initiative.

The department from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Following a record number of applicants, UCF was among the honorees with a four-year $3.4 million grant for our proposal — Civil Interactions and Viewpoints for Interpersonal Competence (CIVIC): A Campuswide Model — which seeks to protect and promote civil discourse on campuses.

“The future demands graduates who can collaborate effectively, navigate complex conversations and lead with integrity within varied professional environments, even when they don’t always agree.” — Andrea Guzmán, UCF vice president for access and community engagement

“The future demands graduates who can collaborate effectively, navigate complex conversations and lead with integrity within varied professional environments, even when they don’t always agree,” says Andrea Guzmán, UCF vice president for access and community engagement and CIVIC principal investigator. “This grant allows us to prepare students not just academically, but to be thoughtful citizens and professionals. By integrating civil discourse skills throughout curricular and co-curricular experiences, we are helping students develop the communication and critical thinking skills that employers, communities and our democracy depend on.”

What is the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)?

FIPSE is a discretionary grant initiative that supports innovative projects to address urgent national needs in postsecondary education. The funds awarded from this specific program competition empower institutions to develop and scale solutions that improve educational outcomes, strengthen institutional capacity and align education with workforce demands.

In November, the Department of Education announced four FY 2025 competition priorities focused on expanding innovative teaching and student success initiatives, promoting civil discourse on campuses, advancing accreditation reform, and building capacity for high‑quality, workforce‑aligned short‑term academic programs eligible for Workforce Pell Grants.

While UCF was Florida’s lone representative selected for the civil discourse priority, the state saw Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic ��ֱ��, and its Commission for Public Higher Education, Inc. earn grants in accreditation. Hillsborough Community College earned funding for AI.

Several students participate in the 2024 Student Success Conference panel: “Different Journeys, Different Views: Student Perspectives on the Value of Education.”

What is civil discourse?

��’s defines civil discourse as constructive conversation or dialogue which intends to enhance understanding, be productive and requires taking responsibility for truly listening and talking about important local, national and global topics/issues.

“Civil discourse is about understanding the other person’s viewpoint so you can come together to make thoughtful decisions in spite of having different viewpoints,” Guzmán says.

Guzmán says she often hears students today are hesitant to share their own perspectives. She hopes that through this intentional framework, students will begin to feel more confident engaging civilly with those around them.

“Whether students are in the classroom or just having a conversation with a peer, we want them to have the skillset and emotional intelligence needed for constructive conversations,” Guzmán says. “They should still be able to walk away and respectfully say, ‘I still don’t agree with you, but let’s go get a burger and fries afterward.’ Too often, we’ve seen relationships fracture because the skill of civil discourse has been lost.”

How will UCF use these funds?

��’s priority with this $3.4 million grant is to intentionally embed civil discourse and constructive communication skills into the everyday experience at the university through four main strategies.

Haley Winston ’17��serves as UCF’s Director of Civil Discourse.

Strategy 1: Faculty Learning Communities

The first strategy is geared toward . UCF Director of Civil Discourse and Engagement Haley Winston ’17�� and a faculty fellow, yet to be named, will partner to create a curriculum to offer paid learning experiences via faculty learning communities each semester and a track at the Summer Faculty Development Institute. This curriculum will inform faculty on strategies and methodologies for building civil discourse opportunities into their classes. There are also plans to develop and implement civil discourse modules in new faculty orientation.

Eventually, ��’s course catalogue will recognize classes — much like it does now with service-learning courses — with a civil discourse designation.

Strategies 2 and 3: Student Orientation and Training

Two additional strategies are student-focused. One will collaborate with ��’s to include civil discourse modules at orientation.

“From the very start of a student’s journey at UCF, we set the expectation that we are an institution where people can express their views freely and constructively, in a respectful way,” Guzmán says.

The other will partner with to offer civil discourse training for both student employee onboarding training as well as a supervisor-specific training via its , preparing students to carry on these skills into the workforce after graduation.

Strategy 4: Mini-grants for Learning Opportunities

The fourth strategy is geared toward expanding co-curricular opportunities through the UCF Ginsburg Center – Office of Civil Discourse and Engagement. Mini-grants will be offered to units and colleges who want to offer learning opportunities within their department or classrooms.

“This grant builds on work already underway at UCF and allows us to scale it intentionally.”
— Andrea Guzmán

“This grant builds on work already underway at UCF and allows us to scale it intentionally. It also enables the development of a pilot program designed to be replicated across the state university system,” Guzmán says. “The reason we are choosing to bolster programs like orientation and faculty learning communities are because these are existing infrastructures that almost every institution will have and can seamlessly incorporate.”

What happens next?

The funding takes effect immediately. UCF will invite faculty applications for the faculty fellow position during the Spring 2026 semester, with the appointment beginning in August.

��’s will also organize an internal implementation team to confirm year-one priorities, which includes aligning timelines, refining deliverables and establishing the infrastructure needed to support the work.

“With every project we implement, we think about scale and long-term impact. The goal is always for meaningful, transformative work to live on beyond the grant,” says Cyndia Morales Muñiz ’13EdD, senior director of grant initiatives and partnerships, and CIVIC project director.

In addition to Muñiz, Guzmán and Winston, the project includes activity coordinators Joel Cramer, interim vice provost for Faculty Excellence; Chanda Torres ’98 ’00MA ’08EdD, assistant vice president of the Dixon Career Development Center; and Ryan Goodwin, assistant vice president for Strategic Initiatives.

In years three and four of the grant, UCF will develop and host two symposiums for Florida’s State ��ֱ�� System institutions and state colleges to share implementation strategies and lessons learned, providing a model that can be replicated at their own campuses.

“This is yet another example of UCF leading the way to best serve our students and faculty and we look forward to getting started,” Muñiz says.

Note: 100% of ��’s Civil Interactions and Viewpoints for Interpersonal Competence (CIVIC): A Campuswide Model is being financed with this federal funding and 0% of the program is being financed with non-federal funding.

Social Work Student Overcomes Tragedies, Dedicates Self to Helping Others

Camille Dolan — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:40:10 +0000

Amiyah Murphy-Allison, a third-year UCF social work student, is rewriting her life story. The 20-year-old has endured more loss and hardships than most people her age, and at one point people in her community told her she would never amount to anything.

But thanks to loving friends and some adult role models, she came to learn that she is in charge of her future.

Life didn’t start easy for Murphy-Allison, who was born to a 16-year-old mom who had to overcome many struggles of her own. Her mother tried to break away from Murphy-Allison’s abusive stepfather when she was 8. Her mom was packing up the kids and her belongings when her stepfather unexpectedly returned home.

In the struggle to get away, her mom was murdered by her stepfather. Murphy-Allison and her three siblings – all of whom had witnessed the event – were not harmed physically.

The stepfather was ultimately convicted and imprisoned.

Amiyah Murphy-Allison didn’t like where she was heading with her life, but also didn’t see how she could change it.

Murphy-Allison – the eldest child – and her siblings were taken in by their maternal grandparents in Illinois. But less than two years after their adoption, Murphy-Allison’s grandfather died from lung cancer.

Soon after, Murphy-Allison – then in middle school – began hanging out with the wrong crowd and participating in what she calls “adult activities.”

“I was doing things I had no business doing,” Murphy-Allison said.

She didn’t like where she was heading with her life, but also didn’t see how she could change it. Things came to a head one day when she broke down at school, on her late mother’s birthday.

Until then, Murphy-Allison had kept her story to herself. She was not a “victim,” a term she detested. She did not want to tell people her story for fear they would feel sorry for her.

Then a compassionate teacher took her aside and listened. “This happened to you,” the teacher said, “But you have the power to change your future.”

Things began to turn around for Murphy-Allison with that conversation and when her grandmother announced that she and her grandchildren were moving to Florida to live together with family. It was a move that set Murphy-Allison on the path to success.

She also connected with a social worker whose therapy and compassion helped to turn her life around.

“Colleen [the social worker] would take my sister and me out for ice cream and just to see how things were going with us,” Murphy-Allison said. “She made a very big impact on me and my siblings’ lives.”

With a new school, new environment and, best of all, new friends, Murphy-Allison became more extroverted. “People gravitated toward me,” she says.

Her new friends inspired friendly competition: Who could get the best grades was a popular game.

She discovered dual-enrollment – a free program where Murphy-Allison was able to earn college credit hours while completing her high school education. She became involved with student council and sports, and graduated from her Tampa-area high school with a weighted 5.8 GPA.

Murphy-Allison was accepted by all 12 colleges to which she applied, but it was not hard to decide on UCF, she says. She was invited to attend at the end of her senior high school year, for a six-week academic, on-campus intensive program for students like Murphy-Allison who show exceptional promise and ability, and who can also benefit from the opportunities that the Access program provides, such as mentoring and additional academic preparation before attending university classes in the fall.

In her time at UCF, Murphy-Allison has continued to focus on her academics; a current goal is keeping her GPA at a level that will qualify her for the Master’s in Social Work advanced standing program. That program allows successful students to obtain their master’s degree in social work in just one year.

In August, she was surprised to learn she was selected as the first recipient of a new scholarship created by College of Health Professions and Sciences Dean Christopher Ingersoll.

She is also involved in ��’s John T. Washington Honor Society, an organization that focuses on scholarship, community service, networking and raising the standard of education for African American students.

In addition, Murphy-Allison works in .

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Amiyah since she started in our office as a first-year student,” says Megan Case, nutrition and outreach coordinator. “Of course, we are all impressed with her leadership skills, but she is also incredibly fun to work with and has a gift for putting people at ease. I’m not sure she realizes the positive impact she has on those around her. I feel fortunate to be one of those people.”

She decided to major in social work to be a positive influence in other’s lives at times when they need it most. She wants to help them realize their destiny can be greater than what’s been laid out before them.

“What happened to me does not define me,” Murphy-Allison says. “And what happened to you doesn’t define you. There is a whole lot of stuff happening out there today. I just want you to know that, whatever it is you want for yourself, you can do it.”

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