The First Coast Freethought Society is pleased to announce our scholarship partnership with the Secular Student Alliance 
Are you a student who excels in your studies and advocates for secular values? Are you a student activist making a difference in your campus and community? Are you someone who knows a student who is dedicated to both academics and activism? Do you know a student who is making a difference on campus or in your community?
The First Coast Freethought Society seeks to support a student’s passion for secular values, intersectional activism, and social justice.
Are you a full-time high school, trade school, college, or university student in Florida? This is your chance to get recognized and funded for your activism. Our 2026 scholarships will reward students who champion secular values, church/state separation, and civil rights.
More information and the application process is available here: https://secularstudents.org/scholarships/
FCFS 2025 Scholarship Recipients
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the First Coast Freethought Society Scholarships in partnership with the Secular Student Alliance: Hannah and Sophia.
Hannah is a student at the University of North Florida, pursuing a degree in International Relations with minors in Philosophy and Environmental Studies, graduating in May 2025. She plans to pursue a career in refugee resettlement, a passion shaped by her AmeriCorps service in “Operation Allies Welcome,” where she assisted evacuees from Afghanistan.
She asserts her secular identity openly, seeing it as a way to build genuine connections and remain committed to honesty, even if it sets her apart. On campus, Hannah serves as President of Interfaith at UNF, a student organization that continues to promote religious and nonreligious tolerance after the state-mandated closure of the university’s Interfaith Center. She believes differences between people are not barriers but opportunities for deeper understanding.
Beyond campus, Hannah has been active in community service and national service projects across the country. She has contributed to wildfire recovery in California, cultural preservation with the Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho, environmental restoration and education initiatives, and advocacy for immigrants, refugees, and educational justice in Florida. She also participated in the ACLU’s National Advocacy Institute, furthering her knowledge of civil liberties.
This year, Hannah plans to expand interfaith and secular dialogue at UNF through events, collaborations, and discussions that promote inclusion and understanding. For her, the Secular Student Alliance represents a national movement committed to protecting and uplifting secular and humanist values, and she looks forward to contributing to that mission on campus and beyond.
Sophia is an incoming student at the University of Central Florida, where she plans to major in nursing and graduate in 2029. Her long-term goal is to work in a hospital while pursuing advanced nursing education, building a career defined by compassion, equity, and advocacy. She is motivated by a desire to bring comfort to patients during stressful and vulnerable times and to ensure that healthcare is delivered with dignity.
She identifies as an atheist, shaped by her upbringing in a nonreligious household and personal experiences that challenged her to reflect on faith. When a classmate was diagnosed with brain cancer in third grade, she struggled with the idea that it was a “test from God.” At the same time, her father battled addiction, and she could not reconcile the existence of a higher power with the suffering she saw around her. Witnessing religion used to oppose marriage equality and abortion rights further affirmed her secular worldview and strengthened her belief in reason, fairness, and church–state separation.
Her identity as a woman from a low-income household intersects with her secularism. Living in Florida, she has been directly impacted by political debates around reproductive rights, motivating her to advocate for bodily autonomy and equitable healthcare. She has also been active in advocacy, volunteering with the Lee County Democrats during the last presidential election to support Amendment 4, which sought to protect abortion access in Florida. In high school, she participated in a program that paired students with peers with disabilities, fostering inclusion and support.
At UCF, Sophia plans to join the UCF Democrats and the College of Medicine’s Access, Belonging & Community Engagement program. She is committed to creating welcoming spaces in healthcare and continuing to promote civic participation and secular values. For her, the Secular Student Alliance represents the freedom to practice or reject religion without government interference. Growing up with financial hardship, she now faces the challenge of funding her education largely on her own. A scholarship would ease that burden, allowing her to focus more fully on her studies and prepare for a nursing career grounded in service, compassion, and secular humanism.