I have had a unique experience with higher education. After graduating high school from a city in Georgia where it felt like I could count the number of open LGBTQ people on one hand, I moved to Gainesville, Florida to attend UF. My first semester I got involved with the LGBSU. I was tapped by the co-chair to get involved in the group, and was elected co-chair the next semester. One of my first actions was to change the name of the group. Aside from being a mouthful, LGBSU wasn't as inclusive as it should have been. We voted to change the name to Pride Student Union. Along with the new name came a new constitution, new leadership organization, and a new logo. I was elected President the next term. Seeking to make a bigger impact, I wondered what else could be done. I noticed several other student groups had full months of special events, but we had only been given a week to highlight our community. We designated April as Pride Awareness Month and petitioned Student Government to give us funding to put on events. To the surprise of many, Pride Awareness Month was given a budget that put us in the top 10 Student groups at the University of Florida. We brought in speakers, held workshops, film nights, gave talks to various Greek life houses, and many other events to showcase and celebrate the brilliance of our community. Another thing I was able to accomplish was to start the Intercollegiate Pride conference - an annual meeting of the queer-representing Student groups from universities and colleges around Florida. This was a passion project for me, as I felt strongly that it was very important for all of our organizations to be in contact. We needed to be able to share news, discuss activism, offer 'best practices' with each other, and just be a sounding board for ideas and issues. I am so incredibly proud of all that I was able to accomplish during my time at the University of Florida in the early 2000s. Unfortunately due to some medical and family issues I had to leave UF without graduating. I did get my AA degree from Florida Community College at Jacksonville in 2004, but I wasn't able to further my education beyond that. 'Life was life-ing' as the kids would say. Now in my 40s, I am going back to school to pursue a nursing degree. After graduation I plan to keep giving back to my community by helping with STI testing and education outreach, and providing extra support for those living with HIV/AIDS. The Pool Family LGBT+ Scholarship would be a tremendous help by alleviating the large financial burden that comes along with nursing school.