2023 Spring Semester Recap

A semester fit for a Queen...literally.

As my sophomore year of college comes to a close, I am extremely grateful for the successful and eventful Spring semester I had! I kick-started this in late January when I was lucky enough to be crowned Miss River City for the Miss Florida Organization. I have been so fortunate to use this title to further connect with young adults and promote both Symbiosis of Service (S.O.S.) and volunteering.

Being Miss River City has also granted me once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and I have been able to meet people from all walks of life because of it. As a communications major, I believe the many noticeable networking moments are an incredible perk to the job! But aside from being Miss River City, I wanted to highlight some of my other favorite moments from the past few months...

I went viral!?

I am a firm believer that social media is an extremely impactful tool to promote both myself and S.O.S. I utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to reach my target audience of high school and college students. I have a background in social media marketing and enjoy promoting S.O.S. It has helped me further develop my skills as a graphic designer, video editor, and photographer.

On National Pancake Day, I stopped by IHOP to promote their fundraising initiative for Children's Miracle Network Hospital. This is an annual celebration that my family has enjoyed for years, especially since you can stop by for a FREE stack of fluffy pancakes. I decided to make a video and upload it to my Instagram and TikTok. To my dismay, the video started blowing up! I cannot believe that video now has over 61,000 views!

To continue my social media rant, I also picked up personal branding contracts with Batiste Dry Shampoo and Clinique, which allowed me to create video and photo content for both of them. It is so surreal to be officially getting paid to do what I love most.

It's the Luck of the Irish

As a Gatorette (baton twirler) for the University of Florida, I was lucky enough to travel alongside my teammates to Ireland! We performed in Cork's St. Patrick's Day Parade, Limerick's International Bands Parade, and Merrion Square in Dublin. I tried lots of new foods, enjoyed learning to an Irish jig and viewed so many splendid sights. Spending a whole week representing my favorite school was such an honor, but it was made even more memorable by sweet fellow Gatorettes.

Sustainability is all around

This semester I shot a pilot episode for a new TV show called Runway Rivals. The show uses recycled materials to create chic sustainable fashion outfits. If you don't know already, I love thrifting, avoiding fast fashion, and advocating for sustainable fashion choices. It was really cool to be a part of a professional production that fits my values so strongly. I also used my new staff position for Strike Magazine to bring my thrifted looks into their editorial shoots.

To help further my sustainability efforts, my friends and I took part in the Great American Cleanup on Earth Day, hosted by Keep Alachua County Beautiful. I organized my own group and had 48 young women join me. We spent all morning picking up trash and collectively filled almost 50 bags worth. This service project ended with the sweet reward of Domino's Pizza, donated to KACB for its volunteers.

This service project was four hours in the Florida heat, making my Spring semester volunteering total around 69 hours!!!

Purple Rain

My main project for this spring was Purple Rain, a paint dodgeball tournament hosted annually to raise funds for Peaceful Paths, a women's shelter for domestic abuse survivors in Alachua County. This year I was able to raise over $5,600 for them! You can read more about it here: https://halleaburton.wixsite.com/my-site/post/how-i-raised-5-600-for-peaceful-paths

Lunch Buddy!

I also enjoy stopping by Newberry Elementary once a week as a mentor for a second-grade student. The official title is "Lunch Buddy" and I've had so much fun connecting with the students there. I can't share too much for confidentiality reasons, but I want you to know those adorable children are the highlight of my week every week.

Another Academic Celebration

In my Fall semester recap, I mentioned that I had a successful academic year. I made President's List and have now maintained my 4.0 for an entire school year! I love what I do, but above all, I value the importance of education. I love knowing my work now will prepare me to enter the real world as a strong, educated, and confident young woman.