I love FIU: Freshmen share highlights of their first year

Gorgeous campuses. Thought-provoking classes. Amazing real-world opportunities.

These are among some of the key experiences that freshmen wrapping up their first few semesters on campus are raving about.

“I’ve been loving my time at FIU,” says hospitality management major Haley Caravetta. “The campus has such a fun and lively energy. There is always something going on. It makes it really easy to get involved and make friends."

She adds, "The professors are so good. They have been so engaging. They make sure to connect the classes to the real world. I know that FIU has the top hospitality school. Already as a freshmen I’ve gotten exposed to so many opportunities, which I honestly don’t think I’d be able to get at any other school."

Through FIU, she volunteered at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival®, which many consider the largest experiential learning opportunity in the country. The international food and wine festival allows students to network with some of the biggest names in the hospitality world, gain experience and start forging connections with potential future employers and contacts.

Caravetta also participated in a three-day, one-credit course that gave her and a group of students a behind-the-scenes look into the cruise industry. Caravetta toured three cruise ships, each from a different top company: Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. She spoke with employees and learned what it’s like to manage a cruise ship. The experience particularly speaks to her heart, since her goal is to launch a career in the corporate side of the cruise industry.

She has also been getting involved on campus through the FIU 4 Christ student group, which hosts praise and worship nights as well as Bible studies as the students grow together in their relationship with Jesus. She has also enjoyed line dancing events, thanks to FIU's Line Dancing club. And she has been selected as a content creator student for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, which means she creates and posts social media content about her time in the program.

Another highlight of her first year: Caravetta enjoyed going to F1rst Night, a festival-style event held annually on the first week of the fall semester that features music, food and vendors.

“I’m going to miss my freshmen year so much," Caravetta says. "I made so many memories. It was so fun and insightful. I learned so much. It really set the tone for the rest of my four years at FIU."

Student experience

History major Maanas Daswani has also hit the ground running at FIU. During his first semester, Daswani — an FIU Honors College student — successfully tried out and earned a spot on the university’s Model United Nations team. He has already travelled to two conferences and earned an honorable award at this year’s SunMUN conference in Orlando.

A theater aficionado, Daswani also founded a new student organization this semester. The Drama Club at FIU is geared toward all theater lovers and especially those who are non-majors but are still interested in building their performance skills. The organization has already hosted various events, including a showcase that featured students performing monologues and musical numbers.

“It’s really exciting,” Daswani says of his FIU time so far. “I’ve had a great experience. College is very different from high school, but it has not been hard to adapt to FIU life. I felt like I fit right in, and I’m just making my way through.”

Amidst juggling classes, Model UN, the drama club and other events (including attending a few Fencing Club meeting and an event that featured puppy yoga on the GC Lawns recently), Daswani says he finds some moments of calm in the beauty of the main campus. 

“One of my favorite things to do on campus is to sit on the bridge and watch the turtles, feel the breeze and hear the water. It helps you recharge.”

Learning from experts

Marine biology major Sophia Navarro-Montes says she loves her classes. She is passionate about animals and the environment. Naturally, one of her favorite classes so far has been an ecology class. Another highlight: An introduction to religion course that gave her a nice break from her major focus, STEM.

During an introduction to marine biology course, Navarro-Montes met and heard from various professors and their research areas. The experience is helping her think through which marine research area she might like to focus on in the future — and which researchers she might want to potentially work under.

As part of her Honors College community service hours, Navarro-Montes is spending time in the Nature Preserve.

“I work on getting rid of the invasive plants, clearing trails, all that kind of stuff,” she says. “I really enjoy it. It’s nice to be outside and do something that has a tangible impact like that.”

She says she’s looking forward to her next semester at FIU.

“As an out of state student, I really enjoy that I’m here,” she says. “Being at FIU is a great opportunity, especially for someone who is studying marine biology.”

Community engagement

For chemistry major Leo Vought, a key aspect of his experience as a freshman revolves around service.  

“The reason I wanted to come to this university is because I knew that, at FIU, I would find a shared motivation toward community building,” he says.

Vought, an FIU Honors College student, participated in the Day on the Bay event, working with fellow students to clean natural areas of the Biscayne Bay Campus in the fall, and he also volunteered at the MMC Nature Preserve.

Through an FIU platform, he discovered an opportunity to serve with a local nonprofit organization to help clean up an old camping ground and to help document the biodiversity on the grounds by taking photos of the trees, plants and insects in the area. It has been one of his favorite service projects.

Meanwhile in the classroom, he’s working hard. Wanting to further sharpen his communication skills, Vought, who plans on becoming a radiochemist and a researcher, has taken Honors Seminar courses in human-centric healthcare and in podcasting. The podcasting course, which he is currently enrolled in, allows him to gain experience creating podcasts on various topics and to explore the medium’s storytelling power.

What’s next for Vought? He says he’s looking forward to gaining experience at one of FIU’s chemistry research labs. Next year, he’s also interested in diving into scientific communication by attending national conferences such as the American Chemical Society’s annual conference.

He says he knows he’s in the right place to make a difference. “FIU has far-reaching impact on the community,” he says. "I'm proud to be part of FIU."