Adam Salazar

Adam’s passion for writing and education was sparked by his 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Pera. Although he was always a bookworm and writer by nature, it was Mrs. Pera’s enthusiasm and incredible knowledge of all things literary that solidified his desire to be a part of academia. 

After high school, Adam moved on to the University of Central Florida where he fell in love with English Literature, specifically Victorian Lit, before graduating with his Bachelor’s degree. From there, he managed a popular coffee shop on campus and really leaned into the tortured English-Major-barista life for a time. While pursuing his Master’s degree, Adam worked full-time as an administrator for the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, where he always had just enough time to run back home to feed his loving dogs before shuffling back to night classes. 

After graduating, Adam immediately began teaching first-year writing courses at UCF. He considers himself lucky to have had incredible students throughout his tenure. In addition to teaching, Adam has served as an administrator in admissions, financial aid, and first year advising. He has also served on multiple admissions decision committees. Throughout all of it, Adam has lived by the sentiment (included his own syllabi) that Mrs. Pera had at the top of her syllabus: “Knowledge does not fall from the sky, but is created by a community of people working together.”

When he isn’t worrying about his use of the em dash and how it might make his writing seem like AI, Adam is a huge horror buff who likes anything mystical or supernatural. He’s also a video game nerd who always gravitates to the healer/cleric roles in MMOs/RPG