Behind the Mask

CHADI RACHID

The emergence of the coronavirus has caused a number of unprecedented changes in all of our lives, but there are some who have gone through more than others. Chadi Rachid, a first-year honors student at the University of Florida, is a perfect example of this. An international student from Morocco, Chadi first became interested in pursuing his college education at the University of Florida due to their competitive engineering program, the wide-ranging opportunities they offer and a desire to study within the US. Like any other, he was excited to begin his college experience while enjoying the last few months of high school to their most. Once the pandemic swept the world, however, Morocco closed its borders. The problem? Chadi was in Armenia during an international study internship. As a result, he ended up getting stranded in Armenia— without a way to get back home—for three months. This forced him to adapt. “I lived with some friends in the same situation in a guest house until we could go back home,” Chadi said. “I had to learn how to cook, how to manage a budget, how to manage and store food efficiently—all of this in a country where I don’t speak the language.” Finally, he was able to return home and eventually make the journey to America. He described the process as extremely long and tiring, but once he got here he gained all his energy back. “Rabat to Casablanca to New York to Atlanta to Gainesville. Although it took two layovers and 30 hours to get here, it was worth it!” While the food and social culture are very different than in Morocco, he thinks it’s only a matter of time before he fully adapts to his new life. Despite his excitement to be a part of UF, Chadi says it is still frustrating that he doesn’t know when he will be able to see his family again. On top of that, it is a lot of pressure. “My family has sacrificed enough so that I can study here. It is up to me if it was in vain or not.” Chadi is majoring in mechanical engineering and is passionate about robotics, philosophy, and linguistics. “So far I love my new life. I somehow managed to meet people, get involved on campus and catch up with classes. It is challenging but I hope I’ll be able to keep up.”

14 Fall 2020

ALEX THEOPHILOPULOS

The 2020 presidential election is arguably one of the most critical events in history and is one that will play a significant role in the future of our country. Seeing as how the United States also has a major impact on the global system, it is also reasonable to say that this election will have effects on a worldwide scale. So how can you drive change within such an event? For Alex Theophilopulos, a first-year honors student at the University of Florida, the answer was easy: increase millennial and Gen Z voter turnout. It started with the pandemic. Although for most people this was a period of stress and struggle, Alex saw it as an opportunity to grow. The pandemic enabled him to focus completely on himself and what he really wanted, and thus he began a period of self-development. He started practicing tennis and lifting weights every day— losing a total of 15 pounds and entering a stage of extreme fitness as a result. “I am more confident in myself than I have ever been because of this,” Alex said. Due to the pandemic, Alex was also given an increase in time for recreation, and this is when he had an idea for how to increase voter turnout within millennials and Gen Z. The medium? TikTok, a social media app. Social media is one of the most dynamic marketing tools of this generation; through it, various ideas or products can be easily promoted. And that is when Alex made his post, which read, “Imagine if David Dobrik would do a Tesla giveaway and to enter all you have to do is prove you voted. Boom 100% gen z and millennial voter participation.” Of course, he didn’t initially believe anything would actually happen. David Dobrik is a popular social media influencer with over 18 million followers who is especially known for his car giveaway videos. The chances of him seeing and responding to the post were minimal, but a few weeks later, David Dobrik sent a response: “Ok let’s do it!” Because of this post, over 120,000 people registered to vote in what Forbes says is the single largest voting drive within modern U.S. history. “Some things just feel surreal,” Alex said. “That was definitely one of them. Millions of people have seen my face and 120k people have registered to vote because of it.” He ends with a powerful message. “It just shows you how everything you do can matter—you just have to give it the means to.”

Stories by Ronak Kanodia Design by Courtney Chalmers Photos by Veronika Schmalfuss

Fall 2020