{"id":121326,"date":"2021-06-30T14:47:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T18:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=121326"},"modified":"2021-07-07T11:01:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:01:14","slug":"ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Shea McLinden was a high school junior, she had a lot of choices when it came to going to college. She had excellent grades and a demonstrated interest and talent for science, which is why she was selected to attend the Sunshine State Scholars event in 2018.<\/p>\n

The event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida. This week, McLinden \u2014 now a University of Central Florida health sciences junior<\/a> in the Burnett Honors College \u2014 was part of the Limbitless Solutions team hosting one of the in-person design challenges for the 103 honorees at the 2021 Sunshine State Scholars event in Orlando. McLinden and Kayla Vonder Embse, who is majoring in economics<\/a> and leadership studies<\/a> at UCF, are helping run the challenge.<\/p>\n

The scholars, which include 14 students from Orange, Seminole, Hillsborough, Osceola, Brevard and Volusia counties, also had the chance to listen to Albert Manero \u201912 \u201914MS \u201916PhD<\/strong>. He is the CEO and co-founder of Limbitless Solution, a UCF-based nonprofit which makes bionic arms for children. He was the keynote speaker this year and he was the speaker in 2018.<\/p>\n

McLinden says she was moved to join Limbitless Solutions after hearing Manero speak at the conference and strongly believes in paying it forward by encouraging students to pursue STEAM careers.<\/p>\n

Manero says it is important to inspire the next generation of innovators and that starts early. That\u2019s why Limbitless Solutions hosts field trips at their laboratory and continues to participate in the Sunshine State Scholars year after year. When the pandemic threatened the 2020 Sunshine State Scholars event, LS jumped into action and helped organize a mini-virtual session so students wouldn\u2019t miss out.<\/p>\n

Embse also actively promotes STEM. The national merit scholar is a Burnett Honors College student and interns at Limbitless Solutions. She plays many roles, including engaging in K-12 STEM programs at the laboratory.<\/p>\n

The event is sponsored by the Florida Education Foundation, the State University System of Florida, and the Florida Department of Education. The event also benefits from the help of many industry partners including AT&T, Florida Prepaid College Foundation, Lockheed Martin, Helios Education Foundation, Kyra Solutions, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and the Florida Lottery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":113843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,27],"tags":[650,5742,13090],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-121326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-student-life","tag-burnett-honors-college","tag-health-sciences","tag-limbitless-solutions"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zenaida Kotala\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zenaida Kotala\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zenaida Kotala\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Burnett Honors College\",\"Health Sciences\",\"Limbitless Solutions\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Colleges & Campus\",\"Community\",\"Student Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2021\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e\"},\"description\":\"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"UCF students working in the Limbitless Solutions lab pre-COVID pandemic.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\",\"description\":\"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e\",\"name\":\"Zenaida Kotala\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zenaida Kotala\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/zkotala\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\\\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event","description":"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event","og_description":"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/","og_site_name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_published_time":"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Zenaida Kotala","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UCF","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zenaida Kotala","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/"},"author":{"name":"Zenaida Kotala","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e"},"headline":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event","datePublished":"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/"},"wordCount":374,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg","keywords":["Burnett Honors College","Health Sciences","Limbitless Solutions"],"articleSection":["Colleges & Campus","Community","Student Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2021","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/","name":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-30T18:47:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-07T15:01:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e"},"description":"This event aims to recognize Florida\u2019s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"UCF students working in the Limbitless Solutions lab pre-COVID pandemic."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UCF Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","description":"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0fdedfa744a8bfddd06132e6ce9b5e","name":"Zenaida Kotala","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b942e6b48d92cfeb8c940ffaf4efc2f77419a530cc2bd85f06c36bbffea9b02a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zenaida Kotala"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/author\/zkotala\/"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-lead-session-at-sunshine-state-scholars-event\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2020\/09\/WebLimitStudentsIMG_2595-300x200.jpg","primary_category":27,"primary_tag":13090,"author_byline":"Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121326"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121395,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121326\/revisions\/121395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121326"},{"taxonomy":"tu_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tu_author?post=121326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}