A double-barreled T-shirt launcher that can fire shirts higher than the 60-foot walls of Acrisure Bounce House.

A decked-out golf cart, rescued from its fate at the salvage yard and repurposed instead into Knightro’s preferred mode of transportation.

A 3D-printed, robotic Citronaut piloting a spaceship that blasts AC/DC’s Thunderstruck through surround-sound speakers.

And set to make its debut later this year, a powerful projection spotlight designed to summon Knightro onto the field — his own version of Batman’s iconic bat signal.

As the students explain the ins-and-outs of these custom innovations — all built in university labs with tools, technology and machines at their disposal — facility manager Pete Alfieris stands off to the side with a dash of pride on his face.

“Remember what Pete stands for,” the longtime UCF staff member calls out. “Preparing engineers through e��ܳ����پ��Dz�.”

They collectively groan, but in a tone that clearly shows they cherish this man and his dad jokes.

“If you graduate from [UCF’s] engineering college without meeting Pete, you didn’t really go to the engineering college,” says Caden Peters ’26, a computer engineering alum who co-created the Knight signal. “He really shows that anyone can make an impact. You don’t have to be a professor. You don’t have to be an advisor. He’s the facilities manager of the engineering building. And he still has such a strong impact on the college and inspires so many students. There’s really no one like him.”

Alfieris oversees daily operations, lab safety and security for UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science buildings since he took the role in 2008. Nowhere in his job responsibilities does it list mentoring and collaborating with students.

Yet for the past five years, since the football season ticket holder was first inspired to introduce a T-shirt launcher at UCF football games, Alfieris has been the driving force behind the growing partnership between the college and UCF Athletics, pitching his ideas to elevate the game-day experience for fans.

The partnership reflects what UCF does best: connecting classroom learning with real-world experience. As SpaceU, UCF Athletics provides a fitting stage for students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science — the nation’s No. 1 supplier of talent to the aerospace and defense industries, according to Aviation Week Network — to apply their academics and flex their skills.

“For years I have seen the potential in these students,” Alfieris says. “A lot of them go on to work at SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin, L3 Harris, Northrop Grumman. They’re so smart and talented.”

The students are always on board to oblige in bringing his visions to life because he believes in them; sometimes more than anyone.

“There are only a few people here that I would say even scratch the surface compared to Pete when it comes to their belief in students,” says recent mechanical engineering grad Ayden Jordan ’26, who also created Knightro’s signal. “Pete believed in us from day one.”

Peters interjects: “Day zero.”

That belief and hard work have led to some of the most engaging moments in UCF football’s game day experience today.

The Idea That Started it All: A T-Shirt Launcher

Austin Harkins ’24 ’26MS had listened through two weeks of senior design project ideas, waiting for one worth claiming. The year-long group projects require engineering students to design, build and present a functional prototype before graduation.

Then his professor said two words: T-shirt launcher.

“You could just see everyone’s ears kind of perk up around the room,” says Harkins on a call from Texas, where he’s currently working as a mechanical design engineer for L3 Harris. “I grew up in Oviedo, Florida. My parents went to UCF. I couldn’t tell you how many UCF football games I’ve been to. I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m doing this.’ ”

Harkins led one of the teams to score the project. Mechanical engineering graduate student Luciana Carreras ’25 led another.

Over the next several months, both teams designed launchers capable of firing dozens of shirts into the stands during the brief 30-second window they’d have on the field between plays.

When the prototypes were ready, Carreras and Harkins brought them to the football stadium in the summer for a test run in front of UCF Athletics’ game day operations staff.

“I think [UCF Athletics] had some hesitations, which I understand because they didn’t know who we were,” Alfieris says. “We were launching [T-shirts] all over the field — one even went out of the stadium — and [UCF Athletics staff] all looked at me and said, ‘Oh, we’re definitely doing this.’ ”

While the athletic department staff has worked hard to build and protect traditions that span generations of Knights fans, they always embrace trying new things.

“I think some of UCF’s best qualities have always been a spirit of collaboration and an attitude of, ‘what if we try…?’ Pete and the engineering students embody that completely,” says Alex Cesarano, associate athletics director for brand experience. “What they’ve delivered over the last few years is a testament to what’s possible when we have a strong partnership between the university and athletic department. We are immensely grateful for all they’ve added, and continue to add, in service of our fans and student-athletes’ experiences.”

Beyond practicality, the teams took design aesthetic into account.

Harkins’ launcher resembles a rocket, a nod to UCF’s SpaceU identity. Carreras’ team chose a double-barreled design that maximizes the number of shirts they could launch before leaving the field.

“I never went to a football game until I had to launch this thing,” Carreras says. “But seeing it out there on game day and seeing the excitement from everyone, it’s great to leave something behind, especially when it’s a place that you’ve gotten education from, and you’ve found your friends and a life around the campus.”

Knightro’s Wheels

Once word spread that Alfieris and the engineering students were behind the T-shirt launchers, the UCF spirit team wanted in.

Knightro head coach Michael Callahan ’05 ’09MBA ’17EdD, who also serves as director of knowledge management for UCF’s College of Medicine, invited Alfieris to tour the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village and discuss future collaborations.

As they drove around in a standard golf cart with Knightro on board, Alfieris couldn’t help but notice the mascot clinging to the seat.

“Knightro was holding on for dear life, and I looked at Michael and said, ‘How come Knightro doesn’t have his own cart?’ ” Alfieris says. “He looked at me and said, ‘Good question.’ ”

Without a dedicated budget or funding, Alfieris has gotten good at being resourceful. He scoured the university’s surplus property system database, which offers discounted equipment and items in need of repair. One person’s trash is another’s treasure.

He found a cart in serious need of electrical work to run again. He turned to the looking for some talent.

Josh Alper, then a first-year mechanical engineering student, answered without knowing a single detail about what he was showing up for.

Alper, who is primarily self-taught, rewired the cart’s electrical system and fixed the battery charger. He installed LED lighting, four surround-sound speakers and a custom “Bounce Button” horn to the tune of Zombie Nation’s Kernkraft 400. He even rigged a “Knightro phone” that pauses the music for Team Knightro to interact with fans while tailgating. When the phone is placed back on the receiver, the music immediately resumes at maximum vibe levels.

“I was a new student who basically knew nothing about the school, and in my first few weeks, Pete was touring me around and introducing me to lab managers and faculty,” Alper says. “I was able to use 3D printers and tools in the . I’ve gone to football games and shot the T-shirt cannon, which was a really cool experience for my first football season. Working with Pete has opened so many doors.”

Here Comes Citronaut

Alfieris’ next big idea was a robot. Mechanical engineering student Andrew Anderson thought Citronaut seemed like a logical choice.

Anderson, who has completed professional internships with Pegasus Partner Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World Resort refurbishing high-profile rides, spent a year creating what the team affectionately refers to as “Citronaut’s Thunderstruck” — a 3D-printed Citronaut piloting a spaceship that rolls through campus blasting AC/DC’s hit song.

The project began as an oversized foam cube measuring roughly 5 feet on each side.

“Figuring out how to safely cut the foam and see it take that saucer shape, it felt like I was working at Disney,” says Anderson, who has dreamed of developing theme park rides since he was 9 years old.

The team equipped the spaceship with tilting and movement capabilities and an accelerometer to give it a sense of flight.

Meanwhile, computer science major Melanie Allen became Alfieris’ go-to team member for precision work. She designed, laser cut and 3D-printed the Citronaut figure to fit snuggly in his spaceship.

“I’ve taken advantage of our machine shop, our 3D printers, laser cutters [and] the 5-axis CNC machine to make aluminum parts. I didn’t think I would ever be good at painting, and now I know how to paint. So I think a lot of these experiences have given me skills that really make me stand out,” Allen says.

Citronaut’s Thunderstruck debuted at the 2025 Mission IX Space Game as part of the pregame march to the stadium and was an immediate hit.

“A lot of kids were really excited when they saw it, and fans wanted to take pictures with it. It was fun to be part of the march and know that I helped create something that looks cool and something that people want to interact with,” Allen says. “I didn’t feel like I was just another student commuting and taking classes. I felt like I was making a difference and actually contributing to the university.”

Coming Soon: Knightro’s Own ‘Bat’ Signal

One of Alfieris’ most theatrical, ambitious ideas yet is expected to debut this year thanks to Peters, Jordan and the other three engineers of their senior design project team.

Similar to Batman’s “bat signal,” the team designed a custom cylinder-shaped light projector capable of summoning Knightro into action to amp the crowd.

“We faced a lot of questions and doubt when we pitched this for senior design. Could the physics actually work out? Will [the light] actually project at that far of a distance?” Jordan says. “When you have a good team, anything is possible. And we believed we could make the impossible happen.”

The biggest hurdle came early.

The specialized lights required for the design cost $700, leaving Jordan unsure if the project would ever get off the ground.

A week later, his team got an email that the lights were in, purchased by the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from the budget dedicated to supporting senior design projects.

“Pete worked his magic,” Peters says.

Engineering this from a concept drawing into an actual functioning contraption was no small feat.

The high-powered lights generated enough heat to require radiators and a water-cooling loop. The team also developed an innovative method to display the projected image by using a laser cutter to burn away the coating on mirror slides. And ensuring safety throughout their design, down to the emergency stop button, was paramount.

When their first successful test happened at 3 a.m. on the side of Engineering II, the first person they told was Alfieris.

“I remember walking up my apartment stairs that night thinking, I want this feeling for the rest of my life,” Peters says.

Funds and hours in a day are the only things holding back Alfieris and the students at this point. They have a few more ideas and projects in the works that they’re eager to share with Knight Nation when they’re ready.

Alfieris says he’s grateful to his supervisor, College of Engineering and Computer Science Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and NCAA faculty representative Manoj Chopra, for allowing him to engage with the students in these ventures. It’s been one of the greatest gifts of his career.

“All [the] stuff that I wanted to do is coming to life, and it’s so much fun,” Alfieris says. “I don’t have any kids, so they’re like my kids. I get that proud parent moment when they come to me and say, ‘Thank you.’ And I’m like, ‘What are you thanking me for?’ And they say, ‘You helped me. You were just always there.’ And it just makes me feel really good. It really does.”

There’s a moment during every game day at Acrisure Bounce House that David Hansen pauses for a little perspective.

For the last two decades since he helped open the gates and usher in the sell-out crowd for the stadium’s opening day in 2007, he has climbed to the highest row in a corner next to the student section to take in the view of the 40,000-plus in front of him.

“I wanted to see the big picture,” says Hansen, who served several roles key for UCF Athletics from 2006-24 and now is the director of the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village and general manager of Knights Plaza Retail and Entertainment District. “Game day brings people together. I’ve heard so many stories of alums that live 10 minutes from each other, but their lives are busy — kids are going to school, they’re going to work, they’re traveling and never get to see each other than game day.

“It’s the one time that we put everything else aside. That’s the great thing about sport and why the stadium and our athletics village have been so instrumental to our culture and rise as a university.”

Hansen joined UCF in 2006 as senior associate athletics director for internal operations and was responsible for executing the stadium operational plan to bring game day to life on campus for the first time.

As the Bounce House celebrates its 20th season, Hansen reflects on the impact it has had on Knight Nation and the community at large.

Sprint to the Start

On Sept. 15, 2007, the stadium welcomed 45,622 through its gates for the kickoff against ����ֱ�� of Texas. Hansen, who had been in constant motion since before sunrise, rushed to the field just in time for the national anthem and flyover.

He recalls seeing longtime athletics administrator Art Zeleznik with tears streaming down his face.

“I know everyone felt that way in the stadium at that moment. This university had been wanting this day for years, and we were all hit with the realization that it was finally really happening,” Hansen says. “We’re about ready to kick off game No. 1. That was special.”

Beyond constructing the stadium, the operational blueprint was just as crucial to make game day on campus a reality. From parking logistics to implementing a credentialing system to managing traffic flow to public safety and everything in between, UCF personnel were navigating uncharted territory.

“We had a really good, young stadium operations support staff, but we had never hosted a major college football game before,” Hansen says. “A lot of places get a several year runway for this. We had barely a year to put it together.”

After the game, Hansen put together a five-page list of items that would need to get addressed or corrected before game two.

“I never had a list that long again,” he says. “It was impossible to fully rehearse ahead of the opener, and there were several unknowns. But we knew it was going to be that way. We just had to work together and do our best. We’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years of executing game days at the scale and magnitude of the Bounce House, and it has been a truly collaborative effort between athletics, the university and community partners to build Orlando into a Power 4 town.”

An Interactive Stadium

The legend of the “Bounce House” was born as the seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock in the lead up to kick off while fans bopped to Zombie Nation’s Kernkraft 400.

Hansen felt Roth Tower moving. He saw people having fun with it. He also saw questions in their eyes.

“I made some engineering friends real quick who said, ‘This is normal. This is really more of a bridge than a building structurally, so it’s designed to move like this.’ That made me feel better,” he says.

The stadium has evolved through the years, but it continues to be the Bounce House — so much so that is has now become a part of the stadium’s official name.

“I call it an interactive stadium. Fans can actually get it to move and most stadiums you can’t do that,” he says. “Having the home field advantage played a big part in the team earning multiple conference championships, a series of elite bowl games and ultimately inclusion in one of college football’s premier leagues. Our fanbase has grown into one of the most passionate and disruptive in the country. And the on-campus stadium was a big facilitator of that.”

Athletics Village Is Born

Most places would consider opening one stadium enough of an undertaking. Most places are not UCF.

In the same week the football stadium opened, the 10,000-seat basketball and event facility, Addition Financial Arena, living spaces for 2,000 students and the surrounding Knights Plaza with 80,000 square feet of retail space opened their doors, too.

“The Athletics Village has become a true entertainment and retail district and a great destination and asset for the university,” Hansen says. “Today, a lot of universities are building those for the first time. We launched ours 20 years ago.”

Now that the Roth Tower project is complete thanks in large part to Orange County’s $90 million investment, Hansen’s top priority is revamping the Knights Plaza district.

“We are working to noticeably enhance that area and make it more of a destination, not just for game day, but for every day,” Hansen says. “We’ve got some special plans for that.”

The Vision

When the stadium opened, UCF was in its infancy of Conference USA, but the university and athletics department envisioned one day reaching the top echelon of collegiate athletics. So the stadium and Athletics Village were strategically planned to evolve as UCF did.

Over the years, we’ve seen transformations to match our rise to the Big 12 with the addition of the Carl Black and Gold Cabana, field cabanas, the Stadium Club, west stadium loge seating, the new Nicholson Plaza and more.

“A lot of stadiums around the country can’t do those things because they are older concrete structures that just can’t change without massive cost or overhauls,” Hansen says. “Here we can. We just proved it again with the new Roth Tower.”

Game Day and Career Ready

Over the last 20 years, the Athletics Village has built community and provided student-athletes with opportunities to showcase their talent while representing UCF worldwide. The village has also served as an extension of UCF’s mission to equip students with the knowledge, skills and aptitudes that align with the workforce of the future, offering paid opportunities to gain industry experience.

Ryan Gustafson ’25 is just one of many success stories. He was a freshman majoring in biology who needed extra cash when he applied to a part-time job for the athletics facilities, events and operations team. The decision radically shaped his future.

He found purpose and switched his major to event management. In addition to learning from a , he gained practical experience in producing UCF Knights’ events and coordinating with some of the biggest brands in athletics.

“There’s a culture here that people want to stay and do their part to make it the best.” — Ryan Gustafson ’25

He has supported the Roth Tower project since it broke ground. He has worked hand in hand with the United States Tennis Association at its national campus in Lake Nona where UCF’s men’s and women’s tennis teams compete. When FIFA needed training sites in Orlando for its 2025 Club World Cup, Gustafson was one of the go-to personnel on hand to support the elite international soccer clubs using our facilities.

By the time he graduated in December 2025, he had made the most of the opportunities he experienced as a student and earned himself a full-time position as a UCF facilities, events and operations coordinator.

“There’s a culture here that people want to stay and do their part to make it the best,” he says. “I always told myself I would end up at UCF, and getting an opportunity right out of college was a dream.”

Two decades ago, UCF opened an on-campus stadium that embodied the ambition of a spirited university and the belief of its fanbase. Today, the opening of the new Roth Tower marks the next chapter in that story, celebrating the rise of Knight Nation, UCF’s trajectory as the youngest institution in a Power Four conference and the momentum still ahead.

The Roth Tower project, made possible by a $90 million commitment of Tourist Development Tax revenues from the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, represents a pivotal addition to the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village that strengthens Orange County as a premier destination for sports tourism and community engagement.

“The new Roth Tower would not be possible without Orange County’s $90 million investment, and we are deeply grateful to Mayor Demings and the Board of County Commissioners for their belief in UCF,” says UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright. “That investment, together with the commitment of our donors, fans and community, helped make this next chapter of the Bounce House possible. Today, we are delivering a community asset designed to bring people here, bring them back and create lasting value for Orange County.”

Born to Bounce

Since its opening in 2007, Acrisure Bounce House has allowed UCF to showcase the momentum and trajectory of one of the country’s fastest-growing universities.

For years the idea of an on-campus stadium at UCF was a dream that many had said could never come true. UCF President John C. Hitt and several prominent UCF supporters, including the tower’s namesake, Jerry and Susan Roth, saw the vision of what an on-campus stadium could be. They believed the football program and a stadium could help elevate the university and its brand.

In the last 20 years of the Bounce House, UCF has captivated audiences on nationally televised primetime broadcasts; welcomed premiere college football shows �����ʱ�’s College GameDay and �󰿳�’s Big Noon Kickoff; hosted conference championships that catapulted the Knights to New Year’s Six bowl games; and has become a not-to-be-missed atmosphere in college sports.

The new Roth Tower represents another important investment in our continued rise.

A Tower With a Story to Tell

Thoughtful planning went into the design elements and functionality of the new tower.

The new space allows more opportunities beyond game day to welcome alumni, partners and visitors for corporate meetings and retreats, weddings and events, and even rocket launch viewing opportunities of nearby Kennedy Space Center, whose Launch Complex 39A aligns with the stadium’s 50-yard line.

Stronger media and broadcast spaces will help showcase UCF nationally and open possibilities for hosting other premiere sporting events and concerts. The strategic layout and structure will make operations and logistics safer, smarter and more efficient.

The tower also serves as an extension of UCF’s mission to equip our students with the knowledge, skills and aptitudes that align with the workforce of the future, offering paid opportunities to gain industry experience in areas including facility and event management, game day operations, broadcasting and production, brand management and strategic communications.

The details are uniquely UCF, with nods to the university’s roots as America’s Space ����ֱ�� and its location in one of the most desirable tourist destinations globally.

A new concept in luxury seating, the open-air, semi-private Sky Suites on the north and south wings of the tower​ take advantage of Orlando’s average of 233 sunny days per year. Floor-to-ceiling windows serve as the east and west walls of the central suite space on the third floor for optimal views of the field and athletic village.

The stadium’s art collection is growing with two custom murals that pay homage to the UCF story and the university’s relationship to Orange County designed by artist Harry Foreman ’18, a graphic design and emerging media management graduate. These complement several installations around the concourse already that include Knightro, wings of Pegasus (the university’s official seal), UCF’s Big 12 ties and Orlando.

Building What’s Next

Roth Tower will create memorable experiences for visitors and reinforces UCF as another reason people choose to come to Orange County and come back.

While the tower is a huge step forward for UCF Athletics, it is not the finish line, says UCF Director of Athletics and Vice President Terry Mohajir, who has worked to implement facility enhancements throughout the village since he arrived in 2021.

“Our fans gave this stadium its identity … and kept the faith as UCF climbed from one level of collegiate athletics to the next,” Mohajir says. “Our responsibility now is to keep matching that belief, by giving our student-athletes every opportunity to succeed, competing for championships, delivering a Power Four-caliber experience and continuing to build the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village into one of the greatest destinations in college sports.”

The UCF football team opens the 2026 season against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. Ticket information can be found at .

“It’s a perfect day to bounce in Orange County, Florida.”

The Roth Tower project, made possible by a $90 million commitment of Tourist Development Tax revenues from the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, represents a pivotal addition to the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village that strengthens Orange County as a premier destination for sports tourism and community engagement.

When the investment was greenlit in 2023, university and athletics administration knew they wanted to add to the stadium’s art collection, which already features several installations around the concourse that include Knightro, wings of Pegasus (the university’s official seal), UCF’s Big 12 ties and Orlando.

UCF commissioned Harry Foreman ’18 to deliver two murals that pay homage to the UCF story and the university’s relationship to Orlando and Orange County. To execute the installation in the week leading up to the tower’s unveiling, Foreman utilized virtual reality technology as part of his process and enlisted the help of fellow alumni: Nicole Lind ’11, a Burnett Honors Scholar who graduated with a degree in an elementary education, and Paulaiden Minerva ’15, who earned his bachelor’s in marketing through the program.

Foreman studied graphic design and emerging media management and previously completed murals for the UCF Downtown and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management campuses.

“When I was a student I always had so much fun on games days,” Foreman says. “It’s magic being back here.”

The Florida native, who now splits his time between Orlando and Denver, has been an active contributor to the Central Florida’s arts scene for years. He recently was selected to be part of the City of Orlando’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge, Art Pollination — a prestigious opportunity as Orlando was one of eight cities selected for the $1 million grant out of more than 150 submissions from around the country.

Acrisure Bounce House is his third football stadium mural project. He previously completed installations for the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I always knew I wanted to paint big,” he says.

Here he shares more about his latest creation.

What excited you about this project?

The campus personnel were so willing and excited about my ideas and style that I brought into this that it was almost a perfect match. I led with fun first and then presented some safer ideas. And they said, “Nope. We want the fun.”

I’m grateful and appreciative that I’m creating in a way that is so well received by so many people. Especially with the way we’re doing these murals with minimal color and a gold approach, I think it’s a style that has an elevated look while also having this fun, bubbly, childlike feeling, which is perfect for a football stadium on game day.

Where did you pull inspiration from for the two murals?

A staple in a lot of my mural work is my “orange blossom gang.” They are fun, smiling orange characters that I will sprinkle in throughout a lot of my murals. They act almost as the glue that keeps other imagery and assets like together. They appear in both murals.

For the UCF-themed mural, we have my signature doodle collage style. We’re in the Bounce House, baby. So I tried to have this flowy, bubbly movement with the clouds. I wanted it to feel like it was light and airy.

With regards to Easter eggs, when I was a student, I did artwork around Orlando and I would do this little emanating whoopsie daisy flower. I snuck it into a postcard stamp. The manatee celebrates Central Florida’s natural springs, which is in my opinion, one of the most magical parts about the entire state. I also snuck in a variation of the rubber duck for Spirit Splash.

For the Orange County mural, it is centered in an Art Deco theme and is an ode to how the university is entwined with Orlando. From the downtown corridor to our relationship with the hospitality sector around I-Drive to space and UCF’s engineering and technology roots. And we wanted to include a message to what helped make this possible: “In appreciation of Orange County, Florida, whose continued belief, support and investment will welcome millions through these gates to bounce.”

How do you apply virtual reality technology in your process?

I first started using the VR headset to project my artwork on walls last year. There are many different ways to get your art on your walls through grid systems, sketching freehand, projectors and now through headsets. In this circumstance, I have another mural next week. I’ve got to get in and out. I didn’t want to wait till the nighttime to use a projector. What’s great about the headset is no matter the time of day, you are able to work and operate, and forecast your artwork on a wall.

It’s a really weird, immersive and amazing technology. If you got vertigo like I do, tread lightly. As I’m wearing it, I’m constantly thinking, ‘We are in the future.’ ”

How did your UCF experience help you hone your craft?

“Being at UCF pushed me to be great.” — Harry Foreman ’18, muralist

My UCF experience was not just a four-year degree. I used nearly every offering UCF had — I was in different clubs, at the gym all the time. I was in the engineering lab using the laser cutter for a lot of my school projects. My experience was almost competitive nurture in a sense, learning in a school setting with so many talented creatives around me. Being at UCF pushed me to be great and taught me how to be a shape shifter.

I already was running a business while in school. I immediately graduated and went right into freelancing, and the Orlando community and UCF network at large welcomed me right when I needed it. I booked amazing jobs right out of school. The UCF Downtown project, I would say, is still some of my most impactful work that gets me jobs to this day.

I never in a million years thought murals would allow me to be traveling all over the nation. I’m about to buy my wife a house. It’s a great time to be a muralist. It’s the best job in the world.

What does it mean to you to be able to give back to your alma mater and Orlando in this way?

It’s so special. As a student, and even as an artist, there’s no textbook for success, no single game plan for how to do things. The fact that I get to paint and create in spaces like this, I hope it can inspire the next student. I hope they see this and they say, “That is so cool. I want to do that,” because whenever I saw someone doing it, that was my first response.

If you’re a student that is worried about the creative world that we’re entering into, as long as you’re pushing yourself to make great work, everything you could ever want is already there waiting for you. Orlando as a canvas is the best place to blossom. It was for me.