Organ donation was not something of particular concern to Shani Kamberi a few years ago. She recalls watching a 15-minute video on it during her driver’s education class one summer, but the issue didn’t really click. Then came her senior year in high school. That was when Jonathan Bos, Kamberi’s AP English Literature teacher at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., spoke to the class about organ donation. He had a personal story to tell, having received a heart transplant in 1999.

When Valerie Redmond was studying government and politics at the University of Maryland, law school was always in the back of her mind. An alumna of the International Studies Scholars program, Redmond now works for Price Waterhouse Cooper in New York focusing on consumer compliance. Redmond knew she wanted to work as a lawyer after she took a class on the Supreme Court with Michael Spivey, a professor in the Department of Government and Politics. The class utilized real cases and required students to re-enact the arguments and determine how the case would go, Redmond explained.

Washing your hands is serious business—something that the students at the University of Maryland’s Center for Young Children are learning hands-on. “Our kids wash their hands all the time,” says Director Mona Leigh Guha, of the center’s 3- to 6-year-old students. The state requires certain handwashing protocols in licensed preschools, and frankly, it’s good practice. Handwashing with soap is widely recognized as one of the easiest and most effective ways of preventing disease. “Handwashing is the best vaccine,” observes Elisabeth Maring, director of the Global Public Health (GPH) Scholars program. GPH is sponsored by the School of Public Health.

Two graduates of the College Park Scholars program have channeled their entrepreneurial passions in the launch of their new food truck business. The Q Truck officially launched Sept. 2, along with several other popular trucks from the DMV area. Former Environment, Technology and the Economy Scholar David Engle and senior Business, Society and the Economy Scholar Chris Szeluga decided to start this new business venture soon after new legislation in Prince George’s County allowed food trucks in designated Food Truck Hubs, Engle said.

College Park Scholars means two years of learning across disciplines, considering complicated problems and making connections between the classroom and the rest of the world. As a capstone to that experience, we require sophomore Scholars to identify and complete a practicum project. In 2017, a sophomore in our Environment, Technology and Economy program developed a sustainability intervention as part of an internship. A Science, Technology and Society student researched basic income and workforce automation. A group of Public Leadership sophomores organized to start a local chapter of a national camp for children of cancer patients.

“You’re going to Meredith Farm after this?” asked our tour guide, Matt Meredith, as I stood in the cramped interior of the Bucktown Village Store with 16 first- and second-year Scholars. “It’s on the Byway list,” I explained. “That was my family’s farm. There’s nothing there anymore,” Matt said.

As a former Arts Scholars and past winner of the Martha and Ira Berlin Legacy Fund Scholarship, senior Emily Tuttle’s Scholars experience is even more meaningful since her scholarship win. Earning the scholarship provided Tuttle with the opportunity to study abroad in Ireland in a creative writing immersion class through the Department of Arts and Humanities. “This award supports students who have a well-defined, innovative project, who are committed to Scholars and to learning from diversity, and who have financial need,” Scholars Executive Director Dr. Marilee Lindemann said.

Life Sciences alumna Sarahann Yeh arrived in Indonesia on Aug. 23 to work with high school students at SMAN 7, a public high school on the outskirts of Bandar Lampung city. Yeh received the Fulbright Scholarship this past spring, which funded her nine-month trip and connected her with service opportunities in Indonesia. She is also serving as a U.S. cultural ambassador, and she credits Scholars for helping her to discover her passion for cultural advocacy. "Scholars taught me to value experiential learning and gave me confidence to pursue international opportunities,” Yeh said. “I remember sitting in colloquium when a lightbulb went off in my head: ‘I don't have to just learn about things in lecture. I can go do them.’”

This semester, College Park Scholars is launching Scholars Promoting and Revitalizing Care (SPARC), a student-led, staff-supported initiative that promotes the wellbeing of all members of our community. The club will hold its first interest meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. to gauge what care means to students and how they can show care for others. "We will mainly be searching for dedicated e-board members to help raise this club from the ground up," said Life Sciences Scholar Anthony Sartori, president and founder of SPARC.