Margarita Rentis

One week before Margarita Rentis' last semester at FIU began, her mother suffered a brain aneurysm. At first, her mother’s condition was critical. When things stabilized, it became apparent that – as is usual in these situations – her mother would face a long path to recovery.

Margarita quit her two jobs and was ready to leave school and take care of her mom. But, her father told her he would take care of her mother and asked Margarita to focus on her education. She had to keep going.

After visiting her mother twice a day for three months at the hospital and continuing as a full-time student, Margarita graduated with a 3.9 GPA

Margarita studied abroad in Japan three times and became the first student at FIU and in South Florida to receive the Department of State’s prestigious Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study the Japanese language.

She says the CLS scholarship is just one example of how her advisor in the Global Learning Medallion program, Eric Feldman, impacted her education. He suggested she consider the scholarship and connected her with then-FIU Diplomat-in-Residence Catherine Rodriguez, who helped her through the application process.

A truly global citizen, Margarita has lived in her father’s native Greece and embraces the importance of study abroad.

She is currently interning at BBC Worldwide in Coral Gables and will start a marketing and sales internship at Grace Hotels in London after graduation.

by Gisela Valencia
Junior account manager, Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs