Exercising Agency

Posted: January 13, 2025

Dear Students, Faculty, Administrators, and Staff,

As this new year dawns, the word agency is on my mind. It’s a powerful noun. It comes from the Latin verb agere, which means “to do, to act, to put into motion, to pursue.”

At its heart, agency is that precious space within which we have the wherewithal and the freedom to flex and fulfill our potential.

Do we have unlimited agency? Well, we humans are finite, so we all have limitations — external or self-imposed, actual or perceived. But oftentimes limitations loom far too large in our field of vision, blocking us from recognizing what agency we do have and acting on it.

Rather than dwell on limitations, we do better to concentrate on the free space that they frame. That space is where each of us can find our sense of agency. How wisely, intentionally, creatively, and accountably can we use that space at our disposal to take charge of our lives, put our plans into motion, and pursue our dreams, one day at a time, one step at a time?

Agency is like muscle: the more we exercise it, the stronger it gets and the bigger it grows.

So as we wend our way through 2025, with whatever challenges and rewards it brings, I encourage you to think deeply about your own sense of agency. Define anew what you want to do, how you want to act, and what you want to pursue. Take stock of the wherewithal (both within you and around you) on hand at the moment. And then ply that — patiently and persistently — to realize your potential and expand it.

As the late United States President Theodore Roosevelt said: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Go Gators!

Nicole L.P. Stedman, Ph.D.
Associate Provost and Dean
The Graduate School
University of Florida