Sofia Abolfathi, MPMT senior
Few undergraduate filmmakers can boast their own IMDb page, but for Sophia Abolfathi, it’s just another milestone in an already remarkable career. The award-winning documentary filmmaker has spent her time at UF developing a distinct storytelling voice— one deeply rooted in themes of community, justice and activism.
Her latest film, The Sunflower, chronicles the powerful bond between the UF women’s softball team and a young cancer patient. It follows the success of March of the Mangroves, her environmental documentary that won a 2024 Suncoast Regional Emmy and was named Best Student Film at the Better Cities Film Festival. Her earlier film, A Seat at the Table, which explored food justice in Gainesville, won the Grand Jury Award for Student Film at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles.
With a firm commitment to storytelling that uplifts communities and sparks dialogue, she is poised to make a lasting impact in documentary filmmaking.
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Samuel Arowosafe, Research and Theory Masters
Nigerian native Samuel Arowosafe arrived at CJC ready to add to his journalism and marketing skills by pursuing a Research and Theory master’s, which allows for customizing curriculum and delving into areas like artificial intelligence.
“One thing I’m excited about is UF moving in the direction of being globally competitive in terms of artificial intelligence and the faculty in CJC who have specialization in AI.”
Arowosafe is working in the Infrastructure for Communities, Ecology for Data (ICED) Hub, where he assists in research on things like how people in rural areas use AI for the betterment of their lives. That work, along with an internship at UNICEF and good grades, led to Arowosafe receiving a 2024 UF International Center Certificate of Outstanding Merit.
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Ethan Eibe, Journalism senior
The moment Ethan Eibe enters any sporting arena, it becomes his playground. But instead of sporting a helmet, he puts on his black headset and looks out from the press box, ready to tell a captivating story in real time.
But during his time at CJC as a sports broadcaster, he was disappointed that the student sports broadcasts were not publicized. So, he set out to create the Orange and Blue Sports Network to feature student content. The site includes live streams, play-by-play archives and podcasts.
If pioneering an entire sports network wasn’t enough, Eibe took his skills overseas as an intern for Maccabi Media where he and nine other students covered the 2023 Pan American Maccabi Games, an event for Jewish athletes.
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Connor Ferguson, Public Relations junior
COVID disrupted Connor Ferguson’s plans to play football after high school, but it also directed him to a new, intersecting career path – serving his country as part of the Florida National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing in Jacksonville and working toward a degree in public relations.
He’s juggling both now with an end goal of working for NASA or doing PR for a sports team.
Ferguson grew up in Titusville, Florida. “My uncle said I could go to Jacksonville (Florida)once a month and serve our country as well as get my school paid for – and they will train you. I enlisted on Dec. 18, 2020, went to boot camp and then 11 months of schooling and on-the-job training to become a tactical aircraft maintenance specialist.”
Now, once a month he serves as a crew chief. More training is imminent as the 125th Fighter Wing phases out F-15s for fifth-generation F-35s, he said.
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Carolina Gutiérrez, Advertising senior
Carolina Gutiérrez left her home country of Bolivia to pursue her dream of a career in advertising. But as an international student, her path wasn’t without challenges.
“Being away from family, friends and my home was hard,” Gutiérrez said. “I had to push myself to build connections and find strength in my solitude.” Those challenges set the foundation for her personal growth. She built a community for other fellow international students, organizing shared meals and fostering new friendships, which gave her a sense of purpose and belonging.
Her efforts earned her a UF International Student Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions from the international student community and celebrates international students’ commitment to leadership, academic excellence and campus involvement.
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Vailma Roca Fernandez, Digital Journalism and Multimedia Storytelling Online Masters
Vailma Roca Fernandez’s path to earning her master’s degree online at CJC speaks to perseverance and lifelong learning. With a background in law and international business, she transitioned into journalism, driven by a deep-rooted passion passed down through her family.
Originally from the Dominican Republic, she practiced international law in Miami before moving to Gainesville. Now, she serves in Alachua County Public Schools Public Information Office as Interpreter-Specialist/Public Information for LEP (limited English proficiency) Communities while pursuing her online master’s in digital journalism and multimedia storytelling at UF.
Roca Fernandez says she values the structure of online learning, which allows her to focus deeply on investigative journalism, a field she hopes to enter full-time.
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Vivienne Serret, Journalism senior
First-generation student Vivienne Serret is a woman who understands and appreciates that opportunity requires action. Her background and upbringing have taught her to reach up and grab every opportunity that comes her way.
One opportunity was reporting on the resignation of former UF President Ben Sasse which earned her national attention and the 2024 Society of Professional Journalists Florida Scholarship.
Serret also has written about deeply personal issues in opinion pieces for The Independent Florida Alligator, where she serves as the race and equity reporter. In a piece titled, “Mom crossed the border, so I crossed out my dreams,” she writes, “As a first-generation Latina, it’s been up to me to be the glue that puts back the pieces of shattered dreams that once belonged to the 19-year-old version of my mother — a burden placed on me the second I was born.”
