Sofia Portugal, B.S. Advertising 2023
When Sofia Portugal looked at UF’s website for the first time as a high school student in Bahia, Brazil, she couldn’t imagine attending college anywhere else.
While she began at UF as a pre-med student, her path eventually pivoted toward CJC’s Advertising program after a psychology course sparked her interest in consumer behavior. After switching her major, she became more invested in advertising following a research project she worked on that explored the impact of COVID-19 on the global advertising industry. With leadership experience at The Agency under her belt, she landed internships at Spotify and Netflix. As a Brazilian, Portugal’s diverse perspectives contributed to the success of multiple Netflix projects, such as Tudum, a global fan event that took place in São Paulo, Brazil, in June.
Today, she’s realized her unique perspectives as an immigrant and Latina make her an asset to the technology and entertainment industries. “What I thought was my biggest weakness was actually my biggest strength,” she said.
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Brett Posner-Ferdman, Journalism senior
An enthusiastic journalist since middle school and a self-described political junkie, Brett Posner-Ferdman wanted to be the change he wants to see in the world. Media literacy and holding a global perspective kept him on the right track.
Since his freshman year, he has gained hands-on experience doing investigative digging and developing data analysis skills with the Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment.
Those experiences led him to an internship in Washington, D.C., on CNN’s Row Team, which works on securing editorial quality. In fall 2023, Posner-Ferdman landed a year-long internship as a data analyst for the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, his hometown. He’s looking at electoral districts and political trends in Ontario with the goal of creating an interactive data map that the U.S. State Department can use not only to look at historical trends but also provide predictions related to what will happen in the 2025 federal election.
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Ceci Edelberg, Public Relations junior
Ceci Edelberg moved from her hometown, Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Florida in 2016 at 13 years old. Despite the drastic change, she carried positivity and optimism to embrace this opportunity. She quickly immersed herself in leadership positions in school, becoming an inspiration to others.
Although her love of news pointed her in the direction of journalism, she switched to public relations, which she perceived as “applied journalism” and the crossroads between communications, real life and real-world issues.
Beyond the classroom, Edelberg has prioritized making an impact on campus. She is the managing director of Alpha PR, a student-run PR agency, the director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and the chief of staff for the Hispanic Student Association. She also sits on the board of the UF chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, has taken on leadership positions at UF Hillel, and became one of two under-graduate student representatives for CJC’s International Committee.
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Derrah Getter, Journalism senior
A native Floridian, Derrah Getter tended to take hurricanes for granted. But an opportunity to cover Hurricane Idalia for the Innovation News Center changed her perspective. Getter was part of a team of 17 students and nine news managers who covered the category 4 storm, including the dangerous storm’s arrival and impact. Despite little experience covering a major storm, she was informed at 5 p.m. that she would be going live at 8 p.m. with storm updates. She spent the hours leading up to midnight building hurricane graphics for the next day’s cut-ins.
Over her two-day “lockdown” in the INC, her room was a radio booth, her pillow a duffle bag. Knowing that her cut-ins would interrupt PBS kids’ programming, Getter learned the art of remaining calm yet authoritative. People needed to know that this was serious, but they didn’t need to be scared.
“I walked out of the INC with more confidence in myself and my craft than when I walked in the day prior,” Getter said. “I left feeling ready to take on whatever storm comes my way.”
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Sofia Sueiras, Media Production, Management, and Technology senior
Landing a summer internship with NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises in Miami was the result of a chain reaction for Sofia Sueiras. As part of her “Understanding Audiences” class, Sueiras was assigned to interview a media practitioner. The project was simple: Reach out to someone you’re interested in, learn about their experiences, write a report about it. Sueiras chose Claudia Chagui, Telemundo’s senior vice president of marketing and creative, who suggested that Sueiras look into the NBCUniversal summer internship program. She listened, prepared and applied for a marketing strategy internship in January 2022.
She joined NBCUniversal in summer 2022. Her position was mostly remote, but she did work on tasks that required her to be in person at the Telemundo Center, where most shows are filmed, including Hoy Día, Al Rojo Vivo, En Casa con Telemundo and La Mesa Caliente.
