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.

Jazz Lewis, a 2009 alumnus of Public Leadership Scholars, is currently serving as the second youngest delegate in the Maryland General Assembly. "[Public Leadership] was pivotal to me, I got my first job in politics because of Public Leadership. I interned in the [Prince George’s County] councilman’s office as part of my practicum project," Lewis said. This internship provided him with a "feel for change on the local level," especially in Prince George’s County, where Lewis grew up. Lewis was introduced to this internship opportunity when former Public Leadership Director David Crocker brought in a Prince George’s County council member to speak to their class.