Nadia Ramoutar

Amazing Results

Dr. Nadia Ramoutar
Florida Community College, Class of 1987

Culture shock brought Nadia Ramoutar to Florida Community College. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, her family immigrated to the United States when she was 17, and it wasn’t an easy transition. “It was a very difficult cultural change for me, and I had a very hard time adjusting at times.”

The small classes and proximity of her parents made Florida Community College very appealing to Nadia. “I went to FCCJ because I was not ready to move away to a major college and leave my family yet. It was a temporary idea for me to go there at first, but I became so comfortable there that I just stayed and graduated two years later,” Nadia recalls. “It gave me time to grow up a little and get clearer about what I wanted to do.”

Nadia attributes some of her positive experience here to her involvement in campus activities and clubs and serving as a senator in student government. “I distinctly remember being the MC for a Spring Fling event when we had ‘King of the Fling’ male pageant and a pizza-eating contest. We had a good time; we really got to know one another there.”

But she thinks much of the credit should go to the staff and instructors. “My experience was that people at FCCJ cared about the students and wanted to see them succeed. I met so many friendly and easy-going professors, staff and students, and that was encouraging to me as a young woman from another country trying to find her way — literally!”

She fondly remembers many people. “Don Hughes was the student government advisor at the time, and he was very encouraging and supportive of me. The president of student government, Holley Hunter, became my very good friend, and she and I are still best friends today, twenty years later. She’s my son’s Godmother.”

After finishing her associate in arts degree in 1987, Nadia earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida (UF) and then a master’s degree in political science and public administration from the University of North Florida (UNF). This May, Nadia completed her doctorate in Mass Communication from UF. And, she managed to accomplish all this as a single mother, working full time.

But juggling projects comes naturally to Nadia. In addition to teaching as an assistant professor in the communication department at Flagler College in St. Augustine, she also speaks professionally, writes for the alternative news magazine “Folio Weekly” and is working on an independent film during Flagler’s summer break.

And she’s not done yet. Nadia plans to write books and speak to larger audiences. “My mission is to increase harmony and compassion in the world through greater communication, understanding and tolerance. I am grateful to have this Ph.D. so I have a real opportunity to get busy on my mission. I suppose I am an idealist, but coupled with hard work, I see a lot of amazing results in my life and in the world around me.”

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