Carrie Bushman '16 cbushman@oglethorpe.edu

Carrie Bushman is a freshman Civic Engagement Scholar who graduated from Roswell High School. She is double-majoring in Latino Journalism and Spanish, and hopes to study abroad one semester in Spain. In high school, Carrie acted as president of the Beta club, was captain of the debate team, participated as a member of the National Honor Society, helped found the Writers’ Guild, and worked on the school newspaper staff as the Editorials Editor and Chief Content Editor. She has volunteered with different groups and at different events, some through service organizations and others through community outreach. In her first year at Oglethorpe, Carrie is involved with the Resident Hall Association, Student Judicial Board, and the Black and Gold Club. She hopes to join the Stormy Petrel newspaper staff soon and to rush Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity in the spring. When not studying or in club meetings, Carrie enjoys reading, watching movies and television on Netflix, cooking and baking, and spending time with her friends.

Anna Ethridge ‘14 aethridge@oglethorpe.edu

Anna Ethridge is a junior Civic Engagement Ambassador majoring in Social Justice and Nonprofit Management who aspires to be an activist and human rights attorney. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, she is the ideal mix of her parents, a strong-willed attorney and a passionate artist. Her family is one of the largest motivators for her service work. In addition to school, she is a proud brother of Alpha Phi Omega (a national, coed service fraternity), co-founder and vice president of Oglethorpe’s Amnesty International Chapter, spoken word poet, active member in her church, officer in OUtlet (Students Against Homophobia), and member of GFADP (Georgians for Alternative to the Death Penalty). She has participated in three Alternative Break trips (and still counting!), which have been her favorite service experiences. If you can’t find Anna at Amnesty International, she is most likely writing, singing, drinking coffee, playing with animals, or volunteering at various non-profits.

Ally Hayden ’14 ahayden@oglethorpe.edu

Ally Hayden is a junior Civic Engagement Scholar and Communications and Rhetoric Studies major. Since she began volunteering at the age of 10, some of her favorite projects at home in New Hampshire have included coaching softball, organizing walks for breast cancer, and volunteering at a local hospital. She has participated in other projects while attending Oglethorpe such as in Alternative Winter Break 2011 in New Orleans and Alternative Spring Break 2011 in Guatemala. In 2011-2012 she created and managed 5 Destination Imagination teams at PATH Academy with 3 teams winning at the state tournament. Ally is an active member of Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service fraternity. She completed her nonprofit internship by leading a 6 week Summer Arts Program for students in the summer of 2012. She created this position with Goss Park in Wilton, New Hampshire. Ally will be studying abroad at Oxford University this fall. She is fond of nature, laughter, traveling, sunshine, four leaf clovers, and her cat.

Mounica Kota '16 mkota@oglethorpe.edu

Mounica, a freshman CE scholar, is from Irving, Texas. In high school, Mounica created an eco club which grew over 500 plants and distributed them to all the primary kids in her school. She participated in the current events club and served as the Deputy Secretary General of Model UN, which allowed her to travel to many conferences, including the Hague MUN conference in Singapore. She volunteered throughout high school for Families for the Rainforest, to educate people about the deteriorating state of the world's rain forests, from which she got her inspiration to major in environmental sciences. She considers service in environmental terms; all humans have their specialized niches that they've chosen to settle down in and create a life for themselves within, but in doing so we forget that we all belong to a larger ecological niche- the world as a whole, and it is our obligation to help others in our global sphere as much as we can. Mounica spends an awful lot of time crying over Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and awaiting the inevitable arrival of the TARDIS to whisk her off across time and space. Her motto is, in the words of the infamous Doctor Horrible, "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it."

Christian Langston ’15 clangston@oglethorpe.edu

Christian Langston is a sophomore Civic Engagement Ambassador majoring in Biology, independently planned majoring (IPM) in Nonprofit Management, and minoring in Sociology. Christian is a Georgia native who graduated from Etowah High School in Woodstock. While attending Etowah, Christian kept busy with academics, community service, and athletics as a member of Student Ambassadors, Beta Club, Super Friends, and the Lady Eagle’s basketball, softball, and track teams. Christian has often combined her love for sports with her passion for service, and served as an assistant basketball coach for the Junior Lady Eagles for 2 years. During her time at Oglethorpe, Christian participated in a number of service days and Alternative Spring Break 2012, which quickly became her favorite OU service experience after she worked in the food pantry, painted, gardened, and interacted with many people. The trip helped cultivate Christian’s future career plans to open a nonprofit organization that provides medical services to communities in need.

Belen Rodriguez ’15 jrodriguez@oglethorpe.edu

Belen is a sophomore Civic Engagement Scholar who graduated from Campbell High School in Smyrna, GA. Her scholarship essay stated, “Inequality is never acceptable. Everyone deserves a chance to rise to the top and become someone greater. When we serve others, we break those gaps of inequality and attempt to unite each other as a whole.” While in high school, Belen participated in National Honor Society, BETA Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Girl Scouts of America, and served as President of Language Exploration Club, Secretary of Amigos Latino, VP of FFA, and Director of Children’s Liturgy. She has volunteered with St. Thomas the Apostle (children’s religious education, interpreter, fundraising), Must Ministries, Delman Gardens Retirement Home, and made Christmas & Thanksgiving cards to send to abandoned and abused children. During her first year at Oglethorpe, Belen enjoyed volunteering at Sunrise Assisted Living and teaching English to adults in Dunwoody with Clair Carter, a 2012 CE Scholar and OU graduate. She also completed an internship at the Latin American Association. Belen is majoring in Biopsychology and is a member of the medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon and treasurer of Rotaract.

Kate Siess ’14 ksiess@oglethorpe.edu

Kate Siess is a junior Civic Engagement Scholar and majoring in Economics. She is from St. Paul, Minnesota and does not miss the snow. Back home, she enjoyed making snowmen, sledding, and skiing, but she has slowly replaced these pastimes with new ones now that she lives in Hotlanta. She has always been an avid volunteer. She started a Saturday morning knitting club at a local nursing home, volunteered at Children's Hospital, and also volunteered in a Minneapolis public school. In 2011-2012, Kate created, managed, and strengthened a pen pal program between 21 Oglethorpe students and 21 PATH Academy students to increase reading and writing skills. Aside from volunteering, Kate is also a proud member of the Lady Petrels tennis team. Kate completed her nonprofit internship in the summer of 2012 at AccountAbility Minnesota and will be studying abroad at Oxford University this fall.

Edmund Smith ’15 esmith1@oglethorpe.edu

Edmund is a sophomore Civic Engagement Scholar who graduated from Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Georgia. His scholarship essay stated, “Service is complex, but the one thing about service that is simple, is the amount of sincerity that should be maintained.” While in high school, Edmund participated in Health Occupations Students of America, Class of 2011 Executive Board, Student Council, BETA Club, and National Honor Society. During his first year at Oglethorpe, Edmund’s favorite service projects included volunteering at Books for Africa and Drew Charter School Parents’ Day Off. Edmund is majoring in Biopsychology, is Philanthropy Chair for the Chi Phi fraternity, is Vice President of Recruitment for the medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon, and is a member of the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Coalition and Heifer Club.

Clair Carter ’12
http://www.summerinternships.com/ http://www.manosunidas.org/

Clair was accepted to the University of Dreams Program. She was awarded a scholarship from the company’s president to complete her nonprofit internship in Catalonia, Spain at Manos Unidas/United Hands for 8 weeks in the summer of 2010. Clair had the opportunity to witness how an NGO nonprofit operates in a socialist state. She was able to learn how other countries view and interpret American actions. This new perspective endowed her with a renewed creativity when approaching civic engagement within the United States. Clair's work in Spain focused on digital marketing and translation. Some costs involved with this abroad program were not covered by her nonprofit stipend.

Cassie Hendrix ’12
http://www.marcus.org/

Cassie completed a research internship at Marcus Autism Center's Fetal Alcohol and Drug Exposure Center with Oglethorpe alumna Dr. Claire Coles in the summer of 2010. During this internship, she helped with a weekly diagnostic clinic in which children from all over the state of Georgia received physical and psychological exams in order to determine whether they suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Cassie requested medical records and completed other administrative duties prior to the weekly clinic and aided the physician in conducting the children's physical examinations on the day of the clinic. She also observed many psychological assessment testing sessions and received research training, even getting access to a data set that she later used to complete her honors thesis under the direction of one of her internship mentors, Dr. Julie Kable.

The stipend she received through the Center for Civic Engagement allowed her to remain in Atlanta to complete this internship by providing funding for food, housing, and travel. Without the aforementioned stipend, Cassie would not have been able to afford to remain in Atlanta over the summer, missing out on the amazing clinic and research experiences she received and the resulting honors thesis. As a result of her internship at Marcus Autism Center, Cassie's career goals became clear as she decided that she wanted to pursue clinical child psychology as a researcher and therapist. Moreover, this initial experience laid the groundwork for her honors thesis and helped her attain a competitive paid internship at Emory University the following summer.

Ally Hayden ’14
http://www.gosspark.org/

Ally grew up attending events and learning to swim at Goss Park in Wilton, New Hampshire. She wanted to give back to her community so she designed, funded, and implemented a 6 week Summer Arts Program at Goss Park for the 2012 season. She focused on teaching students how to use recycled materials, to celebrate rural life and the history of Lyndeborough, to create positive self expression, and to use nature in art.

Kate Siess ’14
http://www.accountabilitymn.org/

Kate is an Economics major who wanted to gain experience working with finances and the public. She served as a Financial Services Intern at AccountAbility Minnesota in the summer of 2012. AccountAbility Minnesota provides financial services to low income people in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The main service that they provide is free tax preparation. In 2011, though, AccountAbility started a "Savings Campaign" to encourage clients to save part of their tax refund. Kate worked closely with the Director of Financial Services to integrate the Savings Campaign into their tax preparation services.