Alumna Tatia Ghviniashvili is 'closer to knowing what I want to do for a career' because of her studies, work experiences at FSU

By Miranda Daubar

Tatia Ghviniashvili never expected to return to Tallahassee after finishing her time as a Florida State University undergraduate.

“I graduated during COVID-19, so, I graduated from home,” she says, recalling when she finished her studies at Florida State University at the end of the spring 2020 semester with her Bachelor of Arts in English-Editing, Writing, and Media. “The way everything unfolded was super abrupt.”

Ghviniashvili and thousands of other FSU students did not have an in-person ceremony that year because the global pandemic shut down routine activities across the U.S. Nearly four-and-a-half years later, she has found her way back to her alma mater.

When Ghviniashvili was searching for a job in the fall of 2023, she applied for positions across the country, with Tallahassee and FSU falling on that list. At the time, the university’s Alumni Association was hiring a Coordinator of Alumni Networks.

“I thought the role was interesting because it was along the fields of what I was doing at the time, managing volunteers and planning events,” she says. “When I got the call that I had been hired, I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is so exciting’”

Ghviniashvili worked with the alumni association’s five affinity and identity-based networks: the Jewish Alumni Network; Hispanic/Latin Alumni Network; Veteran Alumni Network; Pride Alumni Network and the Asian American Alumni Network. In addition, Ghviniashvili was hands on for all alumni association events, including planning for the FSU 2024 Homecoming.

Although Ghviniashvili enjoyed that work and what she accomplished with Alumni Networks—“It was fantastic because I was able to take their ideas for engagement and help them make it a reality,” she says—she recently left the Alumni Association for an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

She did not go far, though, and she did not leave her alma mater.

In mid-August Ghviniashvili started a new job as an editor with FSU’s Florida Center for Interactive Media. According to its website, the center began at then-Tallahassee Community College in 1997 and in partnership with the Florida Department of Education. FCIM moved to FSU in 2014 and “collaborates with organizations to advance their educational goals and create engaging learning experiences. . . with services that include customized content development, interactive online courses, integrated data systems, high-stakes and adaptive assessment development, game-based learning, and intervention experiences.”

Becoming an editor has been Ghviniashvili’s dream since she graduated from FSU, and although the path to get there has been a winding one, she is thrilled to use her skills to enhance exceptional student education for the state of Florida.

“Who would have thought that the little girl who barely spoke a word of English prior to moving to the United States, would someday find herself as an editor for the Florida Department of Education,” she says.

Ghviniashvili was born in the Republic of Georgia, a small Eastern European nation, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 8.

“I didn’t speak a word of English when we moved,” she says, “but it only took a few months of watching the Food Network after school to finally begin piecing together the language.”

In 2016, Ghviniashvili enrolled at FSU, hopeful to major in international affairs, but she soon switched to human resource management in hopes to broaden her career opportunities following graduation. That major did not suit her either, however.

She frequently thinks back to the day when she had a moment of realization and decided what she wanted out of her academic future. Reading and writing have always played an important role in Ghviniashvili’s life, so it was only natural to switch her major to English–EWM.

“When I was like six years old, I was writing stories,” she says. “Do you know Arthur, the old PBS cartoon? I would create retellings of Arthur, with illustrations. The entire thing was so silly, but that’s always what my heart pulled me toward.”

Her studies as an English major showed that storytelling and being creative is what she wants to do in the long run.

“No matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing, if there is a component where I get to meet and talk to people and tell their stories, that’s what I’m going to be happy doing,” she says.

In fact, right after she graduated from FSU, the editor for the alumni magazine Vires hired Ghviniashvili as a freelance writer.

“I wrote an article about then-FSU President John Thrasher before his retirement,” she says. “That was an amazing opportunity.”

Once the COVID-19 restrictions loosened, Ghviniashvili moved to Orlando to attend the University of Central Florida to earn her master’s degree in communication. While taking classes, she worked with the Osceola County School District, first as an information technology intern and then as a resource administrator. Shortly after, Ghviniashvili found work with the city of Winter Park as a board coordinator.

She was managing advisory boards to the city commission, similar to her work with the Alumni Association, but continued to keep her eyes peeled for better opportunities. Following her graduation from UCF—even though most of her coursework was online, this time she walked in the ceremony—and a few more months working for the city of Winter Park, Ghviniashvili made it back to FSU.

“I wanted to move out of Orlando because that wasn’t the city for me,” she says. “I’ve always loved Tallahassee, and I love FSU. I have that personal relationship with the community.” Even though Ghviniashvili graduated from FSU four-and-a-half years ago, she says that aside from a bigger Student Union, campus feels the same to her, like she never left.

“I take my dog on walks through campus almost every weekend. I just love it,” she says. “OK, walking through campus, I do feel much older. Everybody looks so young, and I think, ‘Oh my god, it was that long ago that I was actually a student,’” she adds with a laugh.

Her dog Zeus is another connection Ghviniashvili has with FSU. In her senior year, she adopted him from the Tallahassee Animal Shelter for $30 when he was eight weeks old. She admits that the first few weeks were a struggle for a senior in college to train a puppy alone.

She even considered giving him up for adoption because of the stress: “Midterms and crate training don’t really go hand-in-hand,” she explains.

Thankfully, she changed her mind, and now she is a proud dog mom, and Zeus is an honorary FSU grad.

Ghviniashvili enjoys spending time with him at Lake Ella and Black Dog Café. She regularly discovers new outdoor trails to take him on, in addition to her favorite at Maclay Gardens.

Her work experience with the Alumni Association and her explorations around town have given Ghviniashvili insights on what advice she would share with current FSU students.

“Get involved with organizations and clubs because that is how you build connections and lifelong friendships,” she says. “The worst that can happen is you don’t like it, so you quit. You don’t want to live with ‘what ifs’ down the line.”

Keeping a sharp focus on school and earning a degree is important, of course, but she reminds students that they should not rush to pick a major.

“Do your research on what not only is going to sustain you after you graduate, where you can find a career, but also on what you are going to enjoy doing,” Ghviniashvili stresses. “I think that’s so important.”

As an alumna with an undergraduate degree, Ghviniashvili says that within the next five years, she wants to become an FSU alumna with a master’s degree as well, in business administration.

“Right now, I’m closer to knowing what I want to do [for a career] than I ever was during my first time at FSU,” she says, “It’s an exciting feeling and one I owe to this amazing university.”

Many life experiences are unexpected, as Ghviniashvili well knows.

Editor's note: English-Editing, Writing, and Media alumna Miranda Daubar, who graduated from FSU in Spring 2024, conducted an interview with Tatia Ghviniashvili for this profile and wrote a first draft. Before the article could be published, however, Tatia left the Alumni Association for her current position with FSU’s Florida Center for Interactive Media. A subsequent email interview was conducted to gather information about that new job.

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