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Top Florida Grads
Making the Grade
The best and brightest among Florida's undergraduates range from inventors to medical researchers to artists.
? Patrick Barber, 23
University of West Florida (Pensacola)
Hometown: Panama City
Major: Chemistry and piano performance
Notable: Co-founder of Canticle, a non-profit classical music group that performs at nursing homes, churches and hospices and for Hurricane Katrina victims in Hattiesburg, Miss. Recipient of a Florida Space Grant Consortium grant for research on power sources and nanomotors and UWF's Morelli-Quinteros Fellowship for summer research. "Music gave me the discipline to do the chemistry," says Barber.
Plans: Graduate school at the University of Nevada at Reno, where he wants to get a doctorate in organic chemistry and eventually work in industry or teach. Hopes to start a classical music group in Reno and continue studying piano there.
? Amit Karr, 21
Rollins College (Winter Park)
Hometown: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (attended boarding school in Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Major: Sociology and religion
Notable: Working on a 40-minute documentary on the homeless in central Florida. "The more I go out there, the more I see the need," he says. Assists in managing The Ripple Effect, a non-profit agency that helps the homeless. Served on Rollins' Leadership, Education and Development Team, which organizes leadership and service programs for 85 student groups on campus. Received one of the six 2006 Excellence in Service awards given by Florida Campus Compact, a coalition of Florida public and private colleges, universities and community colleges.
Plans: After a year off to continue work on community engagement issues, plans to attend graduate school to prepare for a career in student affairs.
? Jessica Schwartz, 21
University of Central Florida (Orlando)
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
Major: Sports and fitness with certifications in kids' nutrition and lifestyle and weight management
Notable: Developed TUFF Kids, a physical fitness and nutrition program for three Lake County elementary schools in conjunction with UCF assistant professor Michael Kehoe and the Leesburg Regional Medical Center. Assistant director of MyGym, a kids gym in Oviedo. Worked for three years at UCF's Creative School for Children.
Plans: Continue to focus on childhood obesity by working in the private sector or in a hospital setting for several years before continuing on to graduate school.
