#RedefiningMoment- Monika Baldwin

Monika Baldwin moved to St. Petersburg, FL from Lithuania ten years ago. When she began her journey as a finance student at the University of Florida, she wasn’t quite sure where to begin.

“My sophomore year I rushed Kappa Delta, and everyone was talking about his thing called Dance Marathon,” Baldwin said. “I seriously thought it was a dance team, but once I learned more about it I knew it was something I had to immediately get involved with.”

She served as Kappa Delta’s delegate her first year involved and was a Dancer the following two. Baldwin is now the Social Media Director at TradePMR, a financial advising custodian here in Gainesville. She has visited DM at UF multiple times since her graduation, and has even discovered a new way to remember her time with the organization as a student.

“I went to the event last year after they re-did the O’Connell Center and noticed they put up a bunch of new pictures. As my husband and I were walking around, I found a shot from my junior year Dance Marathon. Everyone’s doing the line dance and you can actually see me in it,” Baldwin said.

As for the future, Baldwin hopes DM at UF continues to grow and inspire the Gainesville community.

“I encourage every local friend I have to donate, go to the event, wear the shirts, anything I can,” Baldwin said. “This organization is unforgettable. You guys work so hard to change lives; I know it changed mine.”

– Jenna Metcalf