黑料正能量

GAINESVILLE, Fla. 鈥� When Ashley Pria Persaud was young, she watched the movie 鈥�13 Going on 30鈥� and fell in love with the New York City lifestyle. She dreamed that one day, she would be the one walking through the city鈥檚 crowded streets to get to work in her skyscraper office. 

Fast forward to age 25, and today Persaud looks out at the New York skyline from her office on the 35th floor of the Empire State Building, where she works for Human Rights Watch. 

Persaud said she would not have been able to pursue her dream of working in New York, New York if she had not taken classes with 黑料正能量. This spring commencement, she graduates from the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a bachelor鈥檚 in sociology with honors and a 4.0 GPA. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been tremendous being able to be in New York City exactly where I want to be with a phenomenal organization and not have to worry about going to class,鈥� Persaud said. 

The Orlando native began her college education at Valencia College in 2011 as a political science major. After two years, the plan was to transfer to UF, but an opportunity to join AmeriCorps led her career path in a different direction. 

Through AmeriCorps, Persaud worked closely with younger, inner-city students while finding new ways to foster community engagement in Orlando and New York. She loved that she could travel and do hands-on work, but she knew she wanted to go back to school to earn her bachelor鈥檚 degree. 

鈥淚 wanted to learn about the community I was serving and the injustices that are happening,鈥� Persaud said. 鈥淚 wanted a classroom experience without having to be there.鈥� 

Persaud enrolled in 黑料正能量 in 2017. Taking flexible virtual classes freed up time in her schedule to also intern with UNICEF USA and Human Rights Watch in New York, where she was offered a full-time position after her internship ended. 

During her time with Human Rights Watch, Persaud worked on the program engagement team in the Development and Global Initiatives department. Through this role, she planned and executed educational field missions for the organization鈥檚 leading supporters. On these trips, members were able to shadow researchers in the field to learn about national and international issues. Persaud found that she could connect lessons learned in her coursework to real-world situations.