Spartan of the Week: Dory Estrada

Alex Vera/ The Minaret

Dory Estrada is a second semester junior majoring in environmental science with a minor in writing.

She is very involved in OSLE, Respondez and several other organizations on- and off-campus.

The Minaret had an opportunity to interview Estrada to find out more about her many involvements and how she balances it all.

The Minaret (M): What is your main job at UT?

Dory Estrada (DE): Working in OSLE. I am the student coordinator of leadership. We are currently working on the leadership awards night, which is on April 12, 2011. There has been a lot of coordination with the committee planning it. Leadership awards night is a huge night to recognize student achievement.

I have been preparing for ELITE, the retreat freshmen students get to go on. I just did interviews for it. And I also just did interviews for the PLF, the President’s leadership fellows, which is a four-year scholarship program.

M: Are you yourself a part of the PLF?

DE: Yes, I’m in the second year of it. It’s fairly new: in its third year. It is a four-year scholarship program. It is very selective and very few receive it.

The first year of the program is about “self.” It’s about becoming a leader through personal values. It’s very enriching; you really analyze yourself and how you fit in with others. The second year is about group; it is the most difficult kind of leadership. Ten hours of service with 15 people together… It is really difficult. We are well on our way to completing it for the semester. We have really understood how to be a leader in a group.

M: Where are you interning?

DE: I’m interning at WEDU, the local Tampa public broadcasting station. It is a communications internship, so I’ve had a lot of writing to do.

I love going to my internship; there’s always something going on. They do a lot for the community. I had a big responsibility dealing with their biggest “friend-raising” event this year, Sojourn.

This event promotes their name and gets more people enthusiastic about it. My boss created it and it took place in February, in its sixth year. Over 400 guests attended the event, a very formal, black tie, that took place at the Reinassance Hotel in St. Petersburg.

The theme this year was South Africa and I helped write the program. I also helped assist the South African dancers at the event. We raised a lot of money. Right now, there is a Freedom Writers event, which I am trying to promote on Facebook. The documentary is going to be shown at the Tampa Theatre for free on April 13, 2011.

It is a documentary that took place in 1961 about segregation. The man who wrote the book Freedom Writers, a Professor at USF, is going to be at the theatre, and other freedom writers.

M: Why did you want to get involved with so many things?

DE: I was really involved in high school, and I knew I wanted more beyond studying. Getting involved is a great way to meet people and find your niche. I am just so passionate about a lot of different things. I really like going beyond the classroom and being apart of the student culture.

The question is why wouldn’t you want to get involved?

M: Do you do anything else on campus?

DE: Yes, this year I’m really honored. I am the Editor-in-Chief of Respondez, the student publications magazine. That’s just been really awesome. I was on the editor board last year. My work has included working on applications for editors, conducting interviews, reading submissions and editing submissions over break. I just finished editing.

The publication is coming out April 21, 2011. I am also really involved with Circle K International; I am the President. Our biggest event this year was this past Friday, the Murder Mystery Dinner, in which we raised about 600 dollars for Relay for Life.

M: Are you in any clubs on campus?

DE: I am in Tri Beta, the biology honors society. We are going to the aquarium this weekend.

M: How do you balance everything?

DE: It’s challenging. I don’t have as many credits this semester: 13. I like to think I’m pretty organized. I tell myself not to take on more than I can chew. I make lists. I do use my planner religiously. It’s a matter of being involved in the things that I’m really passionate about.

I still keep my priorities in line, my schoolwork. I think I do a pretty good job of being involved in my interests; I try not to lose sight of that. I take it one day at a time.

M: What do you plan on doing in the future?

DE: Right now, with my academic major and minor, what I would love to do is blend both of them. Even though my major is environmental science, I am more interested in having a career in conservation science.

I am looking to write about preserving the environment. I’m hoping that going to Costa Rica is going to help clarify what I want to do with my major. [I’ll] see firsthand an example of a place that’s doing a great job with the environment; and then I will use what I learn when I come back to Tampa.

At the same time, I really love people and getting people motivated and excited about things. If I can find a way of doing that on the side, then that would be great.

Think you or someone you know could be Spartan of the Week? Email us at minaret.news@gmail.com with their name, contact info and a brief description of what makes them awesome.

Yasaman Sherbaf can be reached at ysherbaf@spartans.ut.edu.