As a student at Glastonbury High School, Brittany Florio was part of the FFA program, where she fell in love with plant science. She was hesitant about attending college but flourished after enrolling in the Ratcliffe Hicks horticulture program.
“I didn’t think I was college material, or that I was smart enough or good enough,” she says. “One of my high school teachers placed the Ratcliffe Hicks application in my hand and helped me through the process. I ended up in college because someone showed me the way.”
Florio went on to earn an associate of applied science degree in ornamental horticulture and a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and natural resources with a minor in women’s studies at UConn, then a master’s degree in sustainable food systems and agriculture at University of Massachusetts.
“I loved studying plant science and looked forward to my classes,” Florio says. “But I also enjoyed working at the Women’s Center and was part of the Violence Against Women Prevention Program. At the time, I didn’t know how I was going to combine these two passions. One of the things that helped bring it all together was my thesis on women as the key to food security.”
During her last semester at UConn, Florio studied abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. “It was one of the most profound experiences of my life. It brought me outside of my bubble.”
