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Florida Sen. Brian Nathan ’12 returned to the University of Tampa last week to speak to students about his journey from being a student in the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education to his current role.

Nathan won the state Senate seat for Florida’s District 14, covering parts of Hillsborough County including South Tampa, Carrollwood and Westchase, in a special election in March. He will run for reelection in the general election in November.

“What you’re here to do is learn how to solve problems and learn how to make the world a little bit better place, either in your local community or globally,” Dean Holley Tankersley told students before introducing Nathan.

Two of Nathan’s former professors were in the audience to hear him speak, Steven Geisz, professor of philosophy and religion, and Bruce Friesen, chair of sociology.

“What I learned was amazing,” Nathan said, talking about his introductory courses in sociology and philosophy. “You get to peek behind the curtain in terms of social forces, how people think, influences on their lives. ... And once you have that peek behind the curtain, you can’t unsee it, you start seeing it everywhere in your day-to-day interactions with people.”

“When you understand where someone is, you can actually communicate with them. … Social science and philosophy are great avenues to be able to communicate with people that you might not normally be able to, and that ties in tremendously with my newest position of state senator.”

He added these skills helped him on the campaign trail because he had insight and understanding to where constituents were at with the problems in their lives.

“Being able to understand how they communicate, how they want or need to be talked to so you can get your message effectively across. These are all things you’re going to learn,” he told the students.