Her role is to advocate for children, and it’s anything but easy. Madison Mitchell sees kids who have been abused, neglected and abandoned, and are entering the foster system in the hope of finding a better life. Mitchell plays with them, takes them out to eat, and stands with them during court appearances. She’s by their side until they’re adopted, and leave the foster system for a place in a loving home.
Presidential Service Award caps illustrious undergrad career for UF Online Criminology alum Madison Mitchell
“It’s really powerful,” Mitchell said. “In a lot of situations, those kids couldn’t rely on their parents to keep them safe. So it’s so good to see them become comfortable with new people who have promised the court they’ll take care of them for the rest of their lives.”
Mitchell’s work with Legal Aid Society in her hometown of Orlando has been entirely on a volunteer basis—all while working at a law firm and until recently studying for her bachelor’s degree in Criminology through UF Online. Mitchell amassed more than 400 hours of volunteer work over the course of her tenure at UF, which earned her the university’s Presidential Service Award before she graduated in May of 2025.
Mitchell was among 124 UF students who were each honored in May of 2025 as Presidential Service Award recipients, receiving their medals from then-interim president Kent Fuchs at a ceremony in Gainesville prior to graduation. “Even though I was in Orlando, I always felt like part of the UF community,” she said. “But it was really cool to go there in person and be recognized along with everyone else who achieved this accomplishment as well.”
There from beginning to end
Mitchell was a Gators fan from early on—she had a UF cheerleader’s uniform when she was a toddler, and used to attend football games with her father. “It runs deep,” she said. But Mitchell was working as a restaurant manager in Orlando when it came time to think about college, and her unconventional schedule made it difficult for her to attend classes in person. The flexibility of UF Online proved the perfect fit.
“The traditional on-campus experience wouldn’t have worked for me,” Mitchell said. “Working as a restaurant manager, there were a lot of weird shifts, a lot of overtime hours involved—starting at 5 a.m., working until 2 a.m., things like that. So being able to complete my work and then listen to lectures and do other things for school whenever I had time was really useful, rather than being on a strict schedule.”
Mitchell chose criminology, which examines the factors impacting crime, justice and the legal process, with the idea of eventually going to law school. It was an attorney who presented Mitchell with the opportunity to become a volunteer advocate for children through Legal Aid Society, which would ultimately form the basis for her Presidential Service Award.
“Essentially it revolves around meeting with kids and advocating for kids who come out of abusive situations,” she said. “I feel like I had a passion for that. I used to babysit when I was younger, and I love hanging out with kids. And I just thought, what better way to combine those passions than to help with kids that have been abused, neglected or abandoned.”
No question, the role can be difficult. But Mitchell works to find common ground with the kids through activities like painting or Origami, by helping with schoolwork, and by enjoying outings in Orlando. Eight of the children she’s worked with have been adopted, she said, and two more are in the process of being adopted. “I’m there from beginning to end,” she said. “I advocate for them all the way until they get put into a loving home.”
More medals and medallions
The Presidential Service Award honors graduating UF students who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to service and community engagement throughout their academic careers. Mitchell’s work at Legal Aid Society was but one part of her volunteer efforts which included marking storm drains and adopting a street in Orlando for litter cleanup. “I’m the only individual to have adopted a street as opposed to a company,” she said, “and it’s still mine.”
But the honors Mitchell received while studying through UF Online go beyond even the Presidential Service Award. The broad range of liberal arts classes she took, which included professional writing and foreign languages, earned her the Dean’s Medal for Excellence in Liberal Arts and Sciences. She also received the Great Gator Neighbor Medallion, which is awarded by UF Off Campus Life and honors remote students who are engaged with both UF and their local communities.
It wasn’t easy—Mitchell amassed hundreds of volunteer hours all while working and taking classes and recently opened her own business making custom rugs. There were times, she admits, when it all felt like too much. But now, with law school potentially on the horizon, Mitchell is grateful for the flexibility afforded by UF Online.
“It really helped me with time management,” she said. “Going to school and doing all of this, there’s no better way to master time management skills than that. Yes, sometimes it did feel like too much. But it wasn’t impossible. Clearly, it wasn’t impossible. It’s just about planning everything out, making sure you have your days down to a science, and getting everything done.”
The UF Online Bachelor of Arts in Criminology helps students understand crime, how society reacts to it, and the interrelationships between features of law and society. The program examines criminal behavior, criminal justice systems and law from a multidisciplinary, liberal-arts perspective, preparing students for careers in the criminal or juvenile justice systems, or further educational ambitions in law school or graduate school.