MLK Scholars Program
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The Freshman MLK Scholars Class of 2011 is the sixth class of Scholars at Ithaca College. Although we have not yet participated in international travel, we have traveled domestically during the Fall Break of 2007 for the traditional first-year-scholar's Civil Rights Tour in Georgia and Alabama. This tour gives Scholars an interactive and intense tour of significant civil rights landmarks in the south. We walked over the Edmund Pettus bridge where Bloody Sunday occurred in 1965, stood at the bus stop at which Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955, and spoke to a participant of the actual Bloody Sunday march.
Taking part in the campus community and Ithaca community is very important to us. For example, freshman Alejandro Chavarria was appointed Co-President of the newly formed Spanish conversation group IC Intercambios. This group pairs Ithaca College students interested in improving their Spanish skills with Spanish-speaking members of the Ithaca community who want to improve their English skills.
"Spanish has always been a very important interest of mine," says Chavarria. "I even took a year off after high school and went to perform community service in Costa Rica for a semester to improve my Spanish. Upon returning, I realized just how much I loved the language and even wanted to become a Spanish professor."
The group was formed as part of an experiment by IC graduate student Jeni Josephson. When the idea took off and became a success, Jeni realized that it should continue to grow and formed the student organization now known as IC Intercambios.
Comments Chavarria, "The name [IC Intercambios] is a perfect fit for the group. 'Intercambios' means 'exchanges' in English and because each participant is paired with a native speaker of their target language, what takes place is indeed a learning 'exchange.'"
Another MLK Scholar making a difference is Nicole McAdoo. Nicole has become an active member in the IC community by joining The Ithaca Woman's Rugby team. "Sports were always a big part of my life; it is great to be able to play sports on an intramural or club level with the demanding schedule of playing something on a varsity level. "
Nicole is also a member of the American Adertising Federation which allows IC students to work on real world advertising campaigns with real companies. She is also a president host for the school.
"Ithaca is such a great place. I wanted to share my first-year experiences with other potential Ithaca students. Hopefully they will get a sense of all the possibilites at Ithaca."
Other freshman Scholars have taken an interest in various other projects such as Sherry Shen who is forming a group of Scholars to participate in the Relay for Life fundraiser.