Kaysyn | Florida State University

A freshman student pursuing commercial entrepreneurship at Florida State University, Kaysyn intends to go to the Howard University School of Law to pursue nonprofit work in the public sector. Attending evangelical churches in Northeastern Pennsylvania at a young age. Kaysyn says, “I found a distinct sense of dissonance in the actions described by the Christian God from narrative to narrative. I came to find value in a secular point of view because it allowed me to focus on what was truly important: public service and activism.”
 
As a Black lesbian individual, Kaysyn realized religion was often used as a tool of colonization and control, designed to strip away culture and voices, especially in the lives of Black women. She participated in rallies to remove prayer from schools, change the names of schools names for Confederate generals, and support abortion rights. Kaysyn was an executive director of the Black Art student organization and student contributor and intern at the African American History Summer Writing Institute.
 
Besides supporting protests and movements centering on the freedom to live secularly, such as those supporting abortion rights and cutting prayer from schools, she also advocated within the Black Art organization at her school to change the pre-performance prayer circle to a mindfulness circle so as to not isolate or ostracize non-Christian students. 

Jamie | University of South Florida

Jamie is a psychology major at the University of South Florida. As a psychologist, she hopes to promote access to quality mental health care and fight against pseudoscience. Her family was Catholic, but never really went to church. The hypocrisy of the church led Jamie to be agnostic. As a Black first-generation immigrant, Jamie knows how many Caribbean-Black people were forced into Christianity.

Jamie is a former Vice President of the American Medical Student Association and advocates for mental health care and awareness of medical racism. Mental health care is often seen as a sign of weakness in nonwhite communities. Jamie plans to start a Secular Student Alliance chapter to create a space where like-minded students can be themselves without feeling shame or judgment.  

Bhagita* | a university in Florida

Bhagita is a senior biology major dual-enrolled at the school of medicine. Growing up on two different continents, she has witnessed the multitude of inequalities facing women. Inspired by these experiences, Bhagita has taken up minors in political science and transdisciplinary studies. Seeking to combine her interest in political activism with her love for science, Bhagita aspires to work in women’s health, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Through her career as a doctor, Bhagita will advocate for women’s and minorities’ autonomy and right to exist.

Growing up Muslim in an Islamic country, Bhagita received formal religious education for over ten years and learned to read Arabic in order to read the Quran and recite prayer. Moving to the U.S. in the sixth grade, her mounting doubts lead to one compelling search, “can you leave Islam?” She grappling to pick and choose the parts of her culture she deemed acceptable and dismissing those intertwined with religious motifs she no longer believed in. Her humanism is a large part of her identity and guides how she chooses to live her life, the morals she stands by, and how she treats others. She hopes to use her position as a means of activism to create and support organizations aimed at atheists and humanists from a formally Muslim background. 

Bhagita started a Secular Student Alliance on her campus where she prioritizes intersectional activism. She has been involved with March for Our Lives and Black Lives Matters protests. She has published articles on the intersection of women’s rights and religion and on her identity as a humanist. In the coming year, she hopes to expand her SSA, volunteer with Planned Parenthood, and encourage voting during the election year.
*Bhagita is a pseudonym.

Joshua | Florida State University

After earning his degrees in Computer Science and Cyber Criminology from Florida State University, Joshua plans to create software for the film industry. He has already earned his Associate of Arts degree from Valencia College where he first explored his passion for programming and film production. 

His journey to secularism and atheism began alongside the process of being baptized in middle school. After each Bible study class, Joshua’s skepticism grew, eventually converting to atheism. In 8th grade, Joshua worked with the FFRF to fight for his right to sit during the pledge of allegiance after being threatened with suspension by the school administration. He was awarded the Cliff Richards Memorial Student Activist Award by FFRF for his commitment to activism. 

Secularism and atheism continue to be important to Joshua’s identity today. Joshua has been involved with the Secular Student Alliance since middle school, and currently serves as the President for the Florida State University chapter. On campus, he is working to introduce secular legislation into student government, helping the SSA become a member of the interfaith council, and working to create a safe and supportive space for secular students at FSU.

Victoria Snyder

Victoria is working towards her bachelor’s degree in English-creative writing at the University of Central Florida, with the goal of earning a master’s degree in library sciences and becoming a librarian. Victoria was raised in a devout, fundamentalist Christian environment and, since childhood, wanted to become a missionary and travel the world saving souls. Five years ago, in the aftermath of a personal crisis, Victoria began searching for the reasons people believe in God, or anything at all. After being immersed in a wide diversity of beliefs and realizing they couldn’t all be right, she concluded that they were most likely all false and she became an atheist. Today, rather than investing in the church, she puts her time and energy into her SSA chapter at the University of Central Florida.

“The SSA at UCF chapter became my family,” Victoria said. “They helped me to find a path that brings me so much satisfaction and joy. Any questions I had they encouraged me to keep asking.”

Through her SSA chapter and as a part of the LGBTQ+ community on campus, she became very involved in LGBTQ+ activism. After the Orlando Pulse shooting she and her fellow SSA members organized a fundraiser on campus, donating almost $1000 to the Pulse victims and their families.

Alexa Woll

Alexa is a double major in food and nutrition science and psychology, with plans to earn a master’s degree in food science. Her long term goal is to pursue a career as a natural products developer and flavor chemist.

Alexa became interested in this path of study and work out of her lifelong desire to make the world a healthier place for everyone. She has dedicated her education, career, and life reducing the negative effects of meat agriculture on our climate by developing the next generation of plant based meat analogs.

From a very young age Alexa says that she was a freethinker; not inclined to follow the beliefs of others. She was naturally curious and scientifically-minded. She believes very strongly that people’s personal religious and spiritual beliefs should not cross over into politics and the structure of society. This is the focus of her secular activism as well, shining the light of scientific facts and open inquiry in conversations where superstition abounds.