Sarah Akhtar
France & Merrick Foundation Fellow
Sarah Akhtar was born in the United Arab Emirates and grew up in Chestnut Ridge, NY. She is a senior and one of two Fellows of the France & Merrick Scholarship Program. Currently, she is studying political science, biology, and French. She serves as the Campus Coordinator for Project HEALTH, an organization that places undergraduates in clinics to connect low-income families with a variety of socioeconomic resources. Project HEALTH was established at UMBC in spring 2008 through a partnership with local St. Agnes Hospital Clinic of the Baltimore Medical Systems, Inc.. Since then, the organization has recruited over 60 volunteers to serve over 200 families in the Baltimore area. Sarah has taken advantage of other opportunities offered by UMBC’s Shriver Center including mentoring at College Gardens, an after-school tutoring program for Baltimore youth. In the future, she plans to attend law school to study international human rights law. Sarah will be interning with the State Department after she graduates in spring 2009. She volunteers because she believes that young people have the energy, drive, and creativity to find real solutions to many societal problems.
Gina Fitzmaurice
France & Merrick Foundation Fellow
Gina Fitzmaurice, a senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, is one of the two France & Merrick Scholarship Program’s Fellows for the 2008-2009 school year. Originally from Bowie, Maryland, Gina has been involved her entire life in helping to serve the homeless in Washington, DC. She is pursuing a Health Administration and Policy Program major focusing on Public Health in hopes that she will study epidemiology. Gina hopes to immediately attend graduate school to study public health and focus on infectious disease epidemiology.
Upon completion of graduate courses, she hopes to obtain a professional career in the research of infectious diseases and potentially join the Commissioned Corps in the Public Health Service in order to serve impoverished regions of the United States.
Gina has been motivated throughout her life to serve others. Through her church parish’s efforts to combat hunger in Washington, DC, she has taken food, clothing, and supplies to the homeless in the nation’s capital. Following in the footsteps of her parents, she has continued to do service work with underprivileged individuals and families in Baltimore City through the national program Project HEALTH. This program aims to help individuals and families by linking them with public assistance programs. In addition, Gina volunteered at College Gardens Youth Program where she helped underprivileged children with homework and planned afterschool activities.
What motivates Gina the most to serve others is the pleasure she receives from giving of herself to those who need her. She hopes that by helping others, she can encourage those capable of doing so to assist less fortunate people as well. Gina is passionate about service because she feels that it is the responsibility of capable individuals to help whenever or whoever they can. “By helping others, we are made humble and realize that we are better off than we could have ever imagined.”
Samantha Bier
France & Merrick Foundation Scholar
Samantha Bier is a current senior at UMBC who is set to graduate spring 2009. She is double majoring in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Cultural Psychoneuroimmunology. At this time, Samantha wishes to pursue a career in medicine and in particular, international health. After graduation, she plans to take a year to be involved with medically-related research and partake in volunteer and service opportunities in medical settings. During this time, she may pursue a Master’s degree in a health-related field before entering medical school.
Samantha is very passionate about service, particularly in the area of health and human rights. Always interested in health and medicine, Samantha has more recently become involved with groups dealing with global health and health advocacy. She believes that volunteering has not only allowed her the opportunity of learning something new about herself and those around her, but a chance to make a palpable difference in the lives of those who need the most help.
She has volunteered in the past for organizations such as CSNAP (Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Project Hope. Samantha is currently volunteering for Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (a group that provides counseling services to refugees from third-world countries) and the Central Maryland Oncology Center.
John Doyle
France & Merrick Foundation Scholar
John Doyle grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY. He recently graduated from UMBC in December 2008 where he majored in Political Science and minored in Social Welfare. His passion for the sustainability movement was sparked during a semester studying abroad in the Development Studies department of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. John credits UMBC faculty Patrick Bond, David Moore, and Harald Witte for introducing him to the intrinsic relationship between environmental justice and social justice and the simple but profound truth, that "alternatives are not inherently compromises."
John worked at the US Green Building Council to help them develop their national Green Campus Campaign. Most recently, John was selected to be one of 20 youth delegates to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Poland as a representative of sustainUS, the U.S. Youth Network For Sustainable development.
He plans to head to Tanzania this spring for an internship with Lawyers' Environmental Action Team before he begins law school in the fall of 2009. He has faith that our generation will find the answers to far more than global warming and hopes to be a part of the progress.
Kathyrn Henry
France & Merrick Foundation Scholar
Kathryn Henry came to UMBC in the spring of 2008 after graduating from Coatesville Area Senior High School in Coatesville, PA. She is currently majoring in Political Science and Public Administration. She hopes to use the knowledge she gains from this course of study to help improve the Children, Youth and Family Services agency and its programs in this state and beyond.
"My passion is making sure that children are safe and that they are always our first priority," she says. "There are a lot of great things about the current system, but there are also many improvements the can and need to be made. This can't be accomplished by policy alone, we need caring volunteers to serve as mentors, guardians, tutors, role models, and advocates for young people who need them in order to create real change."
Kathryn currently serves as the Resource Coordinator for Project Health, a program that works to dissolve the link between poverty and poor health, and as a Peer Service Coordinator for UMBC's Office of Student Life. She was also recently appointed to the Governor's Youth Advisory Council, which recommends legislation, informs the Governor's Office of Children about important issues facing Maryland's youth, raises awareness, and encourages advocacy and involvement among teens and children in the state.
Kathryn hopes to become more involved with children's services, expand her knowledge about the issues affecting the nations' youth, and build connections that can be used to create a national movement to improve life for children in the United States during the rest of her time at UMBC and onward.
Tahira Mahdi
France & Merrick Foundation Scholar
Tahira Mahdi is a junior at UMBC, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Psychology. A native of Maryland, she was born in Baltimore and attended high school in Prince George’s County where she currently lives.
Tahira’s career goals include furthering research in the field of Health Psychology, with special attention to the needs of women and minority communities. Ultimately, she would like to work in conjunction with health care professionals, employing the Biopsychosocial Model in providing clinical assessment, treatment services, and preventive education to patients.
Having worked in the media industry, she is most passionate about finding ways in which to use radio, television, books, and publications to promote worthwhile, life-enriching ideas in chronically poor, ill-educated communities. Tahira feels that many of the entertainment options available for the global community are increasingly dependent on the exploitation of the problems of our most needy citizens. She is confident that media and entertainment can be used to perpetuate more healthful behaviors, positive community endeavors, and a strong sense of goal-orientation in groups that are currently underserved. After graduating from UMBC, she plans to attend graduate school and study the combined specialties of Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. After receiving her doctoral degree, Tahira hopes to obtain a postdoctoral fellowship and receive training in health psychology.
Lois Sarfo-Mensah
France & Merrick Foundation Scholar
“A life well lived is a life with service; service to the community, service to others, service to those less fortunate than myself.” Lois Sarfo-Mensah aspires to attain that goal. Lois is originally from Ghana and emigrated to Laurel, Maryland in 1995. She looks forward to a career in the health field in which she can help and interact with others. Lois is the first incoming freshman to have been accepted into the France & Merrick Scholarship Program where she is pursuing a degree in biology or health administration. She hopes to follow a career in administration, perhaps in a hospital, to learn more about the policies that are involved with patient care. Lois plans for a post-graduate degree in physical therapy, and work to with children afflicted with debilitating physical diseases. Lois is particularly passionate about working with teenagers and helping to provide opportunities for them to further their education. In high school, she served as a peer leader for the college summer program, where many felt that a college degree was unattainable. The program’s emphasis on college inspired Lois to continue her service with the program and to help others become similarly inspired. She seeks to continue that support for others, to create opportunities for those that suffer from physical disabilities, and those who do not believe that going to college is an attainable goal.