Zoe Gray finds confidence, connection, and purpose across disciplines at RIT

Zoe Gray is reflecting on a college experience defined by ambition, curiosity, and a willingness to embrace every opportunity that came her way.

Gray, who is from Buffalo, New York, built an academic path that is anything but conventional. Her primary major is environmental sustainability, health and safety, and through RIT’s accelerated scholars program, she is also completing a master’s degree in environmental health and safety management. Along the way, she added political science as a third major and a minor in American Sign Language and Deaf Cultural Studies.

“I actually have three majors and one minor,” Gray said. “My primary major is environmental sustainability, health and safety. … I’m also getting a master’s in environmental health and safety management. And then I picked up political science as a tertiary major, just because I’ve always been interested in the regulatory aspects.”

Even with that demanding academic load, Gray’s time at RIT stretched well beyond the classroom. She has spent three years as a resident advisor, worked as a student manager in catering on campus, and poured the same level of dedication into those roles that she brought to her studies.

“It’s probably everything,” Gray said of her drive to give her full effort. “When I’m working I put 110 percent into that too. … I’m always going. If I’m not in class, I’m at work or I’m at my dorm, like connecting with residents.”

That sense of commitment has helped define her college experience, but for Gray, the most meaningful moments at RIT were not necessarily the biggest or most visible ones. Instead, she said, it is the smaller interactions and relationships she built through her campus jobs that stand out most.

“I feel like the little moments stand out more than the big ones,” Gray said. She recalled walking across campus and being stopped by former residents who still wanted to update her on their lives, adding that “the fact that they even care enough to pull me aside and talk to me still” has meant a great deal to her.

Those moments reflect what mattered most to Gray during her time at RIT: people, connection, and building community. Through her work as an RA and student manager, she found some of her closest friendships and some of the most lasting parts of her college experience.

After graduation, Gray is not slowing down. The day after commencement, she left for Ireland on a faculty-led study abroad program focused on peace and conflict. The trip follows a previous faculty-led experience in Germany, where she studied topics including wine ecology and flood hydrology.

“I feel like traveling never really gets old. It never gets boring,” Gray said. “Once I went there, I was like, oh, I should just do it again.”

The study abroad opportunities reflect the interdisciplinary nature of Gray’s academic interests. Her Germany experience connected closely to her environmental work, while Ireland ties more directly into her political science studies. Together, those experiences show how she has shaped an education that crosses boundaries and brings multiple passions together.

Looking back, Gray said one of the biggest changes in herself has been growing more confident. As a first-generation college student, she arrived at RIT with uncertainty and plenty of nerves.

“I feel like I was such a nervous first year, and I’m not anymore,” Gray said. “I think being able to just trust the process.”

She said that learning to accept mistakes and grow through them became one of the most important parts of her college journey.

“You don’t have to have everything together. You’re allowed to make mistakes,” Gray said. “I feel like I’ve become a lot more confident because of the mistakes I’ve made and not because of the perfect moments that I’ve curated.”

That confidence also grew in the classroom. Gray pointed to courses and professors who helped make complicated or unexpected subjects feel engaging and accessible. She cited solid and hazardous waste management as one of her favorite classes and praised former professor Gretchen Wainwright for making technical material compelling. She also highlighted Benjamin Banta’s cyber politics course for the way it invited conversation and creativity.

“A professor that just draws you into the mundane stuff is huge,” Gray said. Of Banta, she added, “He talks to you like a human and not like, ‘Oh, I’m up here and you’re the student.’”

Gray also credited Josh Goldowitz in the EHS department as someone who played a major role in her decision to attend RIT. During a virtual information session held during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said his informal, engaging explanation of the program helped make her decision clear.

“That’s what made me decide to want to come here,” Gray said. “So that was huge.”

Gray says the biggest lesson she hopes others take from her story is that finding your place takes time, but it is worth the effort. She encourages prospective students not to be intimidated by uncertainty or by the pressure to follow someone else’s path.

“Finding a place that you’re comfortable in takes some time, but it’s so worth it,” Gray said. “There’s so many different niches and there’s so many different types of people that you don’t have to fit into the box. There’s not even really a box on campus.”

For Gray, that willingness to step beyond the expected led to a college experience filled with growth, friendship, discovery, and confidence. And as she moves on from RIT, she does so with the same mindset that shaped her journey here: trust the process, keep going, and stay open to where the next opportunity might lead.