Many University of Florida alumni stay at the university, joining 33,000+ faculty and staff who form the backbone of the Gator Nation. Taylor Wingate (B.A. ‘24, M.Ed. ‘25) is one such alumna. Not content to be a double Gator, she is now pursuing an Ed.D. while working as an instructional designer on the college’s E-learning, Technology and Communications (ETC) team. She hopes her unexpected journey helps students envision their own futures and the value of being open to new experiences.
Wingate grew up just south of Tampa, the daughter of a UF alumna. Wingate was always a curious student with a passion for learning and personal growth. Attending UF was one of her lifelong goals. When considering what to study, she looked to her sister, who is a teacher, for inspiration. Becoming an EduGator felt like a natural next step towards her long-term aspirations. After years of disciplined work, Wingate was admitted to UF in 2022 as an undergraduate. Eager to get started, she initially declared elementary education as her major. After exploring introductory courses, she felt that pursuing an education sciences degree, with an educational technology specialization, was better aligned with her curiosity.
“It feels like there’s a lot of momentum in higher education, now that we’re in 2026, especially with technology. It seems like there’s a lot of wheels turning and things moving. So, even a mere few years ago, it felt like I was on the cutting edge of something, but I didn’t exactly know what,” Wingate explains.
Taylor Wingate, M.Ed. ’25
While exploring the discipline, Wingate started interning with the college’s instructional design team. Her supervisor, Assistant Director for Educational Programs, Dominic Durante, explains, “Taylor was brought on as an ID intern in Fall 2024 to support our instructional designers on their numerous projects. She quickly became an integral member of our team, helping faculty design their online courses and actively contributing to the creation of learning assets for our major grants.”
This internship helped her realize that working with subject-matter experts to design courses for other students was a form of teaching she wanted to pursue further. After graduating with her B.A. in education sciences in 2024, she applied for an open full-time instructional design position. Earning the job was a full a full-circle moment: from student to staff.
But Wingate knew she wasn’t finished learning. Taking advantage of educational technology’s 4+1 program, Wingate quickly earned her M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction. Continuing to work full-time, she decided to pursue yet another degree: an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in educational technology.
Now officially on the path to her third degree, Wingate balances her full-time instructional design role with her doctoral coursework in the same place she began her academic journey. She is excited to further explore her field and broaden her skill set. While she knows more hard work lies ahead, she is motivated to cement her status as a “Triple Gator.”
For Wingate, this unique intersection of work and study highlights the deep connections she has built over the years. Looking toward the future, she explained, “The overarching theme of everything I look forward to with this third degree is the fact that it stems from being at the College of Education for all these years of growth. Academic, professional, personal. It’s all the same professors and faculty members who have been mentoring me since I was eighteen. So, it’s really neat to see that they know me not only as a student, but as a person. That alone is really rewarding.”