Student Government (SG) Advisor Victoria Shore will retire by the end of January after working at UNF for 11 years, with nine of those years at SG. In an interview with Spinnaker, Shore reflected on her time and favorite parts of her tenure as SG Advisor.

In Dec. 2010, Shore started at UNF as an office manager for administration in the Student Union where she worked with students and helped with the budget for two years. Starting at SG, Shore worked as the office manager until the previous SG advisor resigned. Shore, although hesitant at first, took the position. As SG Advisor, Shore oversaw and worked with students from the Legislative branch, Judicial branch, and the Office of Elections. 

During the last Senate meeting of Fall 2021, Advisor Shore gave her final end of the semester speech to SG. The speech outlined “Shore Advice” to provide the new and returning SG members with life lessons. Some of the advice included to “find out what’s important to the people you serve and make it important to you” and to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly every day.”

On Jan. 14, 2022, SG honored Advisor Shore with a bill recognizing her work in SG. Several members of SG shared their appreciation for Shore as a great mentor, showing she will be greatly missed by all. Senator Nathaniel Rodefer discussed how Shore has impacted his life and personal development. Rodefer spoke for all of SG in saying Shore is “very dear to all of us.” 

Shore’s favorite part about SG was working with students and watching them change from the start to the end of their time at SG. She watched students grow in professionalism, seek new opportunities, and become better people. As an example, Shore mentioned feeling proud when a quiet student ended up successfully serving as Senate President. Shore shared that she will miss being a part of students’ lives the most. 

Retirement, for Shore, will be an adjustment since she has worked for nearly her entire life. Shore plans on spending more time with family, especially with her eight grandchildren. Some of her family members live in Maine, and Shore hopes to travel frequently to see them along with other relatives. She also plans on volunteering with environmental organizations.

Working with SG, Shore learned the importance of research and learning new things. Shore also realized that people are always more important than procedures. Developing relationships will always be her top priority. 

“Really your relationships with people are the most important, and I think that’s one lesson. It’s not necessarily a lesson that I learned; it’s a lesson that I keep learning,” she shared.

As advice, Shore has found it beneficial to always look for a silver lining. “I’m a very big believer in things that happen, we might look at them as a problem, but then we find out later on that it actually worked out better this way,” she explained. Shore hopes the next advisor will prioritize building relationships with students and learn from past advisors.

For the future, Shore is excited to be able to prioritize her family and see what comes next. “To me it’s an adventure. This next adventure in my life. I have no idea what I am going to be involved in, but I look forward to doing those things I never had time to do before,” she concluded. 

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