Elon Periclean Scholars

Hello everyone! My name is Maria Idalia Gant. I’m from New Haven, Connecticut. I am an International Studies and Political Science double major with a minor in Asian Studies. Fingers crossed, by the time I graduate, they will have a Mandarin (Chinese) minor. At Elon, I am a member of the Asian Studies Club, which is a fairly new club. I hold the title of Publicity Chair to make sure that everyone is aware of our meetings and the events we hold on campus. I also have a job in Student Life as a Customer Service Representative under Dr. Jackson!

I first heard of the Periclean Scholars Program through my Global teacher, Dr. Carpenter, last year. He spoke very highly of the program and thought that I should apply. After learning more about the program I knew it was something that I would put my all into. I have always felt the need and want to help others; not only where I live but internationally as well (Hence my major J). I am very passionate in helping others, but also learning about different cultures.

I hope to learn all I can about Namibia. At the moment, I do not know much about the country but I am eager to learn with my peers! We have been told that being a Periclean Scholar is a lot of hard work, but I believe at the end, it will all be worth it. Africa, itself as a continent, has so many different people and cultures’. I am very excited to learn specifically about Namibia’s. During these next three years, I am confident that the Periclean Scholar’s Class of 2017 will accomplish the goals we will soon set for ourselves. We will grow as a group, sharing our thoughts and ideas with one another, and bond over this country we, at first, knew nothing about. I know we, as a unit, will make a difference!

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Hi! My name is Sarah Moore, I’m originally from Pennsylvania but my parents live in North Carolina. I am a Public Health major considering a minor in Biology.   I want to work in sustainable and effective hunger relief through responsible agriculture and nutrition counseling. I work with EV! at Alternative Breaks and to coordinate blood drives, and I am a Resident Advisor! I am also the assistant to the director of the Peace Corps Preparation Program at Elon. I work off-campus as an editor’s assistant for the Autism Asperger’s Digest.

I heard about the Periclean Scholars program when I first came to Elon and I knew immediately that this was a program that I wanted to be involved with. The opportunity to collaboratively explore human rights and social justice and then be able to have a positive impact is an incredible experience.  I am also excited to learn more about the people and culture of Namibia.

This semester I want to learn about Namibia as much as possible as well as about Project Pericles and what other classes have done. I’m excited to explore what we can do, from so far away, that will sustainably and positively impact Namibia.  I’m looking forward to developing my leadership skills and growing individually, as well as a class. I also hope to develop a passion for the people, culture and stories of Namibia with my fellow class of 2017!

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Hi my name is Danielle Baker but I mainly go by Dani. I am from Weston, Florida (which is somewhat in between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale). I have a younger brother and sister and a dog. I am a Psychology/Neuroscience major/minor. Here at Elon I am involved with LEAD as well as Greek life. I have been volunteering since I was in middle school and have continued to do so at Elon. I spent my summer in Israel doing a social justice/service learning initiative for 6 weeks and touring/doing another program for 3 weeks.

At the beginning of last year I found out about Periclean scholars and knew I had to be a part of the program. It was everything I was looking for to add to my life. In addition to volunteering, being around and helping people is a huge passion of mine and I try to expose myself to different cultures as much as possible. All of this is included in being a Periclean Scholar and made me want to be involved.

My goals for this semester are to become familiar with all different aspects of Namibia including the culture, language, and government system. In addition, I hope to form a cohesive and strong bond with our class of 2017 as I think it is important for us to do so. I really believe that we will be able to accomplish something great and something that is not just short term but is sustainable. I also hope to incorporate in our group different aspects of service learning and social justice. I believe these are important concepts to know about when trying to help a community that is not your own. I look forward to these following years and seeing what we will be able to develop.

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Hi, my name is Melanie Mackin and I am from Long Island, New York. I am a Finance/Accounting double major with a minor in Economics. On campus I am involved in relay for life, club volleyball, the Pendulum, and Greek life. 

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Hey guys! My name is David May and I’m from the awesome city of Chattanooga, Tennessee (Which has the fastest internet in America, no big deal). I’m the cool kind of southern in that I’m friendly and order sweet tea. That’s pretty much it, no real accent to speak of. I recently changed my intended path to a double major in business management and environmental studies, and I’m pretty nervous about it. In high school I did service work through my school and through Boy Scouts, which I finished as an Eagle Scout, and I was also fortunate enough to be a part of a service trip to Tanzania. Besides pondering what I want to do with my life, I play club ultimate Frisbee and cook stuff in cooking club. I love the outdoors, and I like to climb and mountain bike in the beautiful mountains around my hometown.

I want to be a Periclean Scholar to prove to myself that I am capable of a long term commitment to real change, and that my beliefs are more than just conversation points. One of the coolest aspects of the program for me is that we are more or less working from the ground up to find solutions to real problems. We are working together to create an informed and detailed picture of a complex country to most effectively deal with pressing issues there. And we’re doing it over the course of three years! It’s really cool that we get to work with the same people every year and really build a strong group dynamic. I hope to contribute some ideas, and although I speak probably more than I should, I think that I am very good at listening and tying together multiple ideas. I can also bake some mean cookies, if I do say so myself.

Africa is an incredible place, and I’m pretty excited to immerse myself in its culture. I’m also pumped to get to know some people along the way. And although we don’t really know what we signed up for, it’s definitely going to be a pretty unique experience!

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Hi, my name is Caila Yates, and I grew up in South Carolina but recently moved to sunny California.  I am a public health major with minors in poverty and social justice and exercise science.  On campus, not only am I an Elon College Fellow, but I am also involved in intervarsity and Greek life.

I chose to apply to be a Periclean Scholar when I heard about it from the students in the class of 2016.  This program stood out to me because I am very interested in the international health initiative and I enjoy learning about unfamiliar cultures.  I also think that Periclean provides a unique opportunity to work with a group of people with the same passion and drive to make a global impact that I have.

Throughout high school, I worked with various non-profits in my community such as Water for Life, which raises money to build irrigation systems in third world countries.  I was also blessed with the opportunity to travel to Peru in order to provide basic health education classes to the locals and to build water wells in two separate villages.  Working with these has allowed me to learn a lot about how non-profits work as well as how to work as a team toward a common goal.  I also have an open mind, which will certainly benefit the group because I love to hear from everyone and incorporate all ideas.

My expectations for the course are simple, but not necessarily easy.  First and foremost, I hope to create a bond with the group that is unlike any other, and is genuine and deep.  Although I have experience in working with groups in the past, I have never worked on such a large project with so many people.  I also expect to learn a lot about Namibia both from my peers and through personal research because I really do not know much about it right now.  Finally, although I know it will take time, I expect to create a project that we are all passionate about and that we can all be proud of.

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Hi! My name is Olivia Gibson and I am from Ellicott City, MD (which is about 10 miles outside of Baltimore). I am deciding between a major in Public Health or Psychology and I am on the pre-health track. I first heard about the Periclean Scholars Program in my global class at the beginning of last year and was immediately impressed by it. I am very interested in human rights and was inspired by the work of other classes to apply so that I could make my own impact and help those in need.

One of the many factors that influenced my interest in Project Pericles is my passion for service. I have always loved doing service work, and thought that Periclean would be a much bolder way to serve others than I have in the past. I am thrilled to be a part of a program that works to bring about social justice.

When I heard about Periclean, the only thing I knew about Namibia was that it is in Africa. After looking it up I quickly became attached to the idea of helping its people. I am fascinated by other cultures and am looking forward to delve into the culture of Namibia. My main expectation for this semester is that we will be educating ourselves as much as possible about the country. Hopefully, we will become experts by the end of the semester and start to form ideas of how we want to help the Namibians. I expect the process to be very challenging, but I am optimistic that at the end of it we will be proud of what we have accomplished. I am looking forward to see the lasting impact that we will make and am very grateful to be a part of the class of 2017!

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