Testimonial

Rebekkah Schmidt, M.S.

Job: Professor

Company: Community College

“[Online education] did give me the opportunity to reach out to a major university that I would not have had the opportunity at this stage in my life to go to, to get these kinds of really in-depth courses. This was a good choice for me.”
- Rebekkah Schmidt, online microbiology master’s program graduate 

Mom, Student, Teacher

“I taught environmental science, anatomy, biology and AP bio in a high school. Then I took a few years off to stay at home with our three kids, who were very close in age and still pretty young. To keep your teaching license, you have to do professional development or earn credits, and mine was about to expire, so I was frantically looking for something to do while I was home with the kids."

“I was looking at a la carte classes that I could take to make enough credits to renew my license because that would have been quicker, a little cheaper obviously, but then I ran into this [UF program] and I think I completed it in about three years, which isn’t bad, being home with three kids through the pandemic and all that. And I just thought, if I have to do the classes and I want the education, [I] might as well take it as far as [I] can. I ran into other programs, and I think they offered a few courses, but not this kind of a program. This was the only online micro/infectious disease program that I could find. 

“Microbiology and virology and infectious disease were just kind of a hobby. It’s really interesting to me on the science front. So, when I saw [UF’s] program was very geared toward that and the end result was a master’s degree — I have a master’s in education from Ohio State, but this would be more a science-based master’s degree — I thought that would not only improve my knowledge base [so] that I could go back and give new information to the [high school] kids, but that maybe [it could] catapult me somewhere else in the future too.” 

“The master’s degree and content I learned helped me acquire a professor position at a local community college. [My new job’s] really fun, too.”  

Flexible Online Program

“I think if [a microbiology program] had been around here, it would have been in the evenings, which would’ve been problematic. But the online, I could at least work on my own schedule, get up at 4:00 a.m. if I needed to do my stuff and then do [other] stuff the rest of the day. And that really worked well. If you’ve got the time to do it, face-to-face [learning] is good. But at this point in my life with the kids, it was not feasible."

Equal to On-Campus Experience

“I do feel like I got as much out of the program as I would had I been on campus. A lot of the professors went at it with the understanding that you understood the bench science, or if not, you could ask questions and then they would explain how the bench science related to all the stuff that we talked about. They incorporated it well. I even learned some new techniques and things I didn’t know were out there, like CRISPR — all sorts of things that the community college I’m at now actually has some ways to [incorporate].” 

It's Good to Be a Florida Gator

“We actually went on campus for graduation, which was so cool to be there. To feel like you’re part of the Gator Nation for a minute and see everything. It was very cool. Look what I’m wearing today. [UF Tshirt]. Yay, Florida! All in. I’m still a Buckeye but also a Gator"

Highly Recommended 

“Yes, definitely. And I have [recommended UF]. Where I’m working now, they have a microbiology program and classes, but they have no one on staff that’s microbiology-trained. So, they were excited that I could come. One of the professors had questions for me about your program, and I definitely laid it out. It’s rigorous, but it is doable. It’s fun and you learn so much. He has kids too, so it would be good for him. Put time into studying and ask questions.” 

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