Sisters take different paths on way to graduating from UF on same day

December 11, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When Jennifer Pell went fishing with her dad, her sister Lauren liked to play with the minnows they used for bait rather than fish. On hunting trips, Lauren stayed behind while Jennifer grabbed a gun and headed out with the boys.

“I was the rowdy one, the one getting in trouble,” Jennifer said.

“I never got as dirty as they did,” Lauren said.

On Dec. 20, both Lauren, 22, and Jennifer, 27, will graduate from the University of Florida’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Though the sisters may be graduating from the same college at the same time, the routes they took couldn’t have been more different.

In 2000 — the year Jennifer graduated high school — Lauren and Jennifer’s mother bought Lindley’s Nursery and Garden Center in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. For 6½ years, Jennifer helped her mother run the nursery while taking classes at Daytona State College (formerly Daytona Beach Community College and Daytona Beach College).

She dabbled in art and graphic design, but after working for years to make the nursery a success, she realized that she couldn’t give up her outdoorsy lifestyle.

“I can’t sit inside, 9 to 5, behind a computer all day,” Jennifer said.

Then Jennifer learned that UF had a satellite school in Apopka, Fla., offering a major in nursery landscape management. The drive was 45 minutes from her home and even farther from the nursery, but it was worth the trek.

Meanwhile, Lauren discovered her love for environmental science in high school while she helped in the nursery on afternoons and weekends.

“I didn’t mind being inside, doing the paperwork,” she said.

When the family’s nursery was threatened by the development of a Super Wal-Mart, Lauren watched her town rally against the corporation. She was taking an environmental science class at the time, which coupled with her family’s struggle, motivated her to take a deeper interest in environmental policies.

At UF, Lauren majored in environmental science with a concentration in education. Her goal is to teach a class similar to the one that inspired her in high school.

Raised by their mother — their parents divorced when Lauren was about 4 — the sisters have grown closer as they near graduation, despite their differences.

“I don’t really look at her as my little sister anymore,” Jennifer said.

“It’s pretty neat that we graduated at the same time,” Lauren said. “It’s going to mean a lot to my mom, to see us both walk.”

Jennifer and Lauren are among about 2,100 students who are expected to walk in the ceremonies on Dec. 19 and 20, based on the number of caps and gowns ordered through the UF Bookstore as of Dec. 11. This semester, students applied for 3,659 degrees, including students who applied for more than one degree.

The graduate degree ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. Dec. 19. Two undergraduate ceremonies, one at 10 a.m. and one at 2 p.m., will take place Dec. 20. All ceremonies will be held at the O’Connell Center except for the professional degree ceremony for the College of Pharmacy, which will begin at 10 a.m. Dec. 20 in the HPNP Auditorium.

UF will recognize Samantha D. Baer, Farah Osman Gulaid, Francesca Spedalieri, Edgardo Hernandez and Kevin Nead as outstanding student leaders. Edward Miller, Christopher Cruz, Marie Dickenson and Guillermo Moratorio will be recognized as outstanding four-year scholars.

This semester’s distinguished alumni will be Joe Farcus, Connie Mack and Manny Fernandez, and the distinguished educators will be Beverly Baumer, Germaine Brown, Richard “Ted” Norman, Jacquelle Sconiers and Marcia Stone.

Nobel Prize winner Hamilton O. Smith will be awarded an honorary degree, doctor of science Dec. 19. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978, along with two of his colleagues, for the discovery of type II restriction enzymes.

Contacts:
Lauren Pell, pell04@ufl.edu, 386-846-1108
Jennifer Pell, pelljenn@ufl.edu, 386-428-7298