Leah Rone

My Background

  I was born at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, on August 30, 1982. I grew up in West Palm Beach, living in the same house until I was twelve. I went to Grove Park Elementary School in Lake Park, Florida, from grades 1-5. For sixth grade, I attended Bear Lakes Middle School in West Palm Beach.

  I moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, when I began the seventh grade, where I attended Watson B. Duncan Middle School. I completed the eigth grade while at this school, as well. The change wasn't a very big deal to me, considering Palm Beach Gardens was only 15 minutes away from my home in West Palm Beach.

    When making the decision of which high school to go to, I decided on applying to a magnet program instead of going to the school I was zoned for. I felt the need to apply myself to a more rigorous schedule of schoolwork to prepare myself for college. I only applied to one magnet school in my area because I felt very confident I would be accepted, considering I had an excellent GPA, was a student in the Gifted program, and had been inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.

  Suncoast Community High School, as it turned out, accepted me into their Interdisciplinary Program for Liberal Arts. I excelled at this school, receiving numerous awards at the end of each academic school year, including being one of the top 10 students academically in my program for my grade every year. In the tenth grade, I was also inducted into the National Honor Society. I set my goals high and took honor courses throughout my four years at Suncoast, boosting my HPA (honors point average) to a 4.2 upon graduating. I was sad to leave Suncoast after a great four years, but excited to embark on a new educational journey at the University of Florida.

    The University of Florida is the only school I applied to, because again, I was extremely confident in myself that I would be accepted. Now that I am here, I am loving and taking advantage of every minute of it. I thought it would be difficult to try and balance out my coursework compared to the work I did at my high school, but I learned that utilizing your time management skills is one of the most important assets you can obtain.

    At the beginning of my sophomore year here at UF, I joined Pi Beta Phi. Pi Beta Phi was the first society of women to originate in the entire nation when named I.C. Sorosis, and was chartered as a sorority named Pi Beta Phi in 1867. It was founded as a fraternity, modeling after all of the men's fraternities at that point in time. It has been such a great way for me to get more involved in and around campus with numerous leadership positions and community service oppurtunities. Not only have I joined and been participating in Pi Beta Phi, but during my second semester of my sophomore year, I was nominated to join two honor societies.

  The National Society of Collegiate Scholars is a well-known national honor society that I have become a member of. There are chapters all over the nation that support leadership and scholarship in its members. Alpha Lambda Delta is another honor society that I have become a member of. The University of Florida chapter strives toward excellence, community service, leadership and scholarship. My achievements toward attaining membership with these two honor societies have made my hard work here at the University of Florida really pay off. I am excited to be receiving an education from this well-respected institution of higher learning, and even more excited to be recognized for my diligence in trying to achieve my goals to be the best student I can possibly be.

    My one and only reason for working so hard to stand out among so many intelligent students here at UF is because I want to learn how to be the best teacher I can be. I have known I wanted to teach children since I was five years old, when I received a chalkboard as a birthday present. I would constantly play "class" and read aloud to my make-believe audience of students. When any of my teachers needed a helper in elementary school, my hand would be the first and the highest in the air. My enthusiasm for teaching children has never waned throughout all these years. It has only gotten stronger. I will continue to strive to be the best teacher I can be, throughout the rest of my years at the University of Florida and beyond.