Victoria Cardoso: Garnet and Gold Scholar Society inductee
By Rose Jackson
In an April 25 ceremony in Florida State University’s Student Union, the Garnet & Gold Scholar Society welcomed 113 new inductees into its organization. Victoria Cardoso, who graduated in Spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in English-Editing, Writing, and Media and a minor in hospitality, is one of those new members.
Garnet & Gold Scholar Society membership no doubt makes an appealing résumé entry to potential employers and graduate schools. Since 2010, the society has facilitated and recognized undergraduate student involvement and excellence. To qualify for membership, students must excel within and beyond FSU in three out of five criteria: international experience; internship; leadership; research; and service.
Along with reaching those standards, students must compose a synthesis reflection project in their final semester before graduation. Inductees are recognized during their graduation ceremony and their official university transcripts receive a designation of their accomplishment.
As a Florida native from Davenport, about 30 miles southwest of Orlando, Cardoso wanted to stay in-state for her undergraduate years. She was attracted to FSU’s not-too-far and not-too-close distance from home as well as the beautiful campus.
The English department’s Editing, Writing, and Media track was also a major factor in bringing Cardoso to Tallahassee because of a unique curriculum not found at other state universities. Her career goal is to work in the publishing industry, thus EWM became the ideal track for Cardoso.
In addition, Cardoso’s love for reading and writing drew her to major in English. With her dream of working in publishing in mind, she felt she had to decide between marketing or English. She ultimately decided on English.
“I felt like English has more to offer and something that I would enjoy more than marketing,” Cardoso says. The decision paid off for her in the spring of 2022, when the Department of English awarded Cardoso the Gerald Ensley Emerging Journalist Undergraduate Award.
The EWM track also introduced Cardoso to studies directly related to publishing, and she specifically notes the Issues in Publishing course as one of her favorites.
To join the Garnet & Gold Scholar Society, Cardoso completed three out of the five engagement areas. First, she studied abroad in London in the summer of 2022 to complete the international experience criteria. When she returned to the U.S., she completed an internship with FSU’s Department of English in the fall of 2022. For her final criteria, Cardoso took leadership courses and held a leadership role as the Instagram Chair for FSU Her Campus.
In her free time, Cardoso enjoys photography and film photography, organizing, and thrifting.
“I could buy anything related to the arts,” she says.
She started a “bookstagram” account in high school, which collaborates with publishing companies; they send her a free book, Cardoso takes a photograph to post on her account, and she includes her review of the book in the caption. Therefore, her career in publishing started long before her outstanding time at FSU.
That would be the dream, to get to work with Emily Henry. I love her books.
— Victoria Cardoso
Post-graduation, Cardoso is currently working as an editorial intern with Entangled Publishing. She continues to seek opportunities with publishing companies from mainstream to independent ones, and she also is interested in editing, editorial, and marketing positions.
Her main career goal is to work in New York City, and her dream job would be working for Penguin Random House, specifically the Berkley imprint.
“That would be the dream,” says Cardoso, “to get to work with Emily Henry. I love her books.”
As a new member of the Garnet & Gold Scholar Society, Cardoso praises FSU for recognizing the hard work of its students. Being a successful full-time student who is also involved in service, community, and many other activities is difficult, she says.
Still, Cardoso adds that students should reach for goals such as membership to scholar societies: “I encourage anyone to apply,” she says.
Cardoso first discovered the Garnet & Gold Scholar Society as a first-year student, and she sought to achieve membership throughout her collegiate career. Now she has graduated with such distinction.
Rose Jackson is a senior with a major in English-Editing, Writing, and Media and a minor in humanities.
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