Scholars News Desk

Congratulations to the 2010 Scholars Founders Award Recipients!

September 9, 2010

Each year, College Park Scholars honors students who have successfully completed their program curriculum and made meaningful contributions to their living-learning community. These accomplishments are celebrated through the conferring of College Park Scholars Citation Awards. Some awards are identified by program directors, others are open for nominations from anyone in our Scholars community, including: faculty; administrators; members of the Cambridge Community's Resident Life staff; alumni; and students.

Award recipients will be honored on Friday, October 1, at 3:30 p.m. in the Chemistry Atrium on campus.

College Park Scholars Founders Awards

Beth and John Pattison Award for Creativity: Albert Wavering, Science, Discovery & the Universe

Albert Wavering grew up in Germantown, MD, and graduated from Richard Montgomery High School in 2008. He recently received his citation from the Science, Discovery and the Universe program, and is currently a junior studying Physical Sciences. With Scholars, Albert explored New York City and studied radio astronomy in West Virginia. In the fall of his sophomore year, Albert worked with D.C. Revels to design and build a replica of Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical drum. During the spring semester, he researched Leonardo's understanding of physics at the Library of Congress. After spending two great years with College Park Scholars, Albert was accepted into the entrepreneurial living-learning program, Hinman CEOs. Albert is still involved with Scholars as one of the teachers for SDU's webship class. He hopes to apply his knowledge and experience to a start-up company in the near future.

Ira Berlin Writing Award: Christine Sanquist, Public Leadership

Christine Sanquist grew up in Laytonsville, Maryland and graduated from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in 2008. She is currently a junior, and is double majoring in Government and Politics and Economics. On campus, Christine works at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and at the Athletic Department's Academic and Career Success Development Unit, where she works as an economics tutor. This semester, she is doing research at the Center for American Politics and Citizenship, where she assists with projects related to campaign financing and voter registration. Christine is a member of the Beyond the Classroom living-learning program, and has undertaken various community service projects while at the University of Maryland, including volunteering as a tutor for Greenbelt Cares. During the summer of 2009, she worked on Capitol Hill as an intern for Senator Ben Cardin. After graduating from Maryland, Christine plans to attend law school and hopes to become a corporate attorney.

Katherine McAdams Leadership Award: Christina Buckless, Life Sciences

Christina Buckless is a junior, double majoring in Supply Chain Management and Operations Management with a minor in Rhetorical Studies. Hoping to attend law school, Christina has learned about the legal field by interning for The Honorable Robert H. Dugan, the Baltimore County Attorney's Office and a private tax attorney.  Christina has also gained experience in the corporate world by interning for WeberMessick Accounting and Investment Management Firm. An involved and devoted student, Christina has given back to the Scholars Community by serving as a Resident Assistant in Cumberland Hall, Tri-Chairing the Student Activities Committee on the Scholars Advisory Board and serving on the Recruiting Strategies Committee for the Scholars Ambassadors Program.  Additionally, she is the Undergraduate Coordinator for Alumni Programs for College Park Scholars where she plans alumni events in the area. Christina has done all of this while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and because of her academic success, she has been invited to many honor societies, including The National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Finally, Christina was an Undergraduate Fellow at the Wakonse National Teaching and Leadership Conference where she was able to hone additional skills in leadership. Christina will further her involvement in Scholars by planning the annual Scholars Charity Softball Tournament this spring.

Peres Award for Study Abroad: Julie Brice, Life Sciences

Julie Brice grew up in Takoma Park, MD and graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 2008. She is currently a junior pursuing a double degree in Kinesiology and Psychology while fulfilling Pre-Med prerequisites. She plans to go to Africa with the Peace Corps after graduating from the University of Maryland and then return to the US for medical school, pursuing a career in pediatric surgery. Julie has traveled to Belize with College Park Scholars and to Uganda with the Chevy Chase Leadership Internship Program. Over the summer, Julie worked at the Child Emotion Psychology Lab at the University of Maryland; during the school year she volunteers at the Urgent Care Unit of the UMD Health Care Center.

Nancy and Ira Shapiro Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award: Natsuha Kuroda, Science, Discovery & the Universe

Natsuha Kuroda grew up in Japan, and moved to Maryland with her parents when she was fourteen years old. She is currently a junior majoring in Physics. She is interested in space weather, which is the study of the Sun-Earth relationship and its effects on human society.  She has been involved in research projects of solar physics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She worked on her first project about the radio emission from the sun in summer of 2009, and had presented this research at the poster session of American Geophysical Union’s fall 2009 meeting that was held in San Francisco last December. Since this past summer, she has been working on her second project, investigating the relationship between the productivity of solar flares and the magnetic properties of the sunspots. Her developing interest is on the study of ionosphere and magnetosphere and its associated space weather phenomena, and she would like to continue with her interest to learn more of Earth-side aspects of space weather.

College Park Scholars Tri-Star Award: Nick Duong, Public Leadership

Nikki (Nick) Duong is a PL alumnus, junior General Biology major and Spanish minor.  He has been accepted into the George Washington School of Medicine for early assurance, plans to be a Pediatrician and travel to Latin America to help improve health care there.  He has been a member of the Scholars Student Advisory Board and is proud to have been a part of PL’s first ever win at the Charity Softball Tournament in 2009, and raised over $1,300 for Charley’s Fund.  Nick has a passion for tutoring and privately tutors high school students, is involved in the community and started an organization with his peers: Books Across Borders, which has donated thousands of books to schools in Africa.  He has been singing since he was young.  You can find him singing in the University’s Men’s Chorus, or performing in musical theater shows in the DC area, every summer.  He currently is a UNIV100 TA, and juggles a Marketing internship with Mark Stuart Dance Theatre Company in New York.  He wants to thank his parents for serving as role models in his life.  He believes that finding your passion in life is the key to happiness and success!