Nicole Gunasekera

Class of 2011
College of Arts and Science
Major: Medicine, Health, and Society
Hometown: Dayton, OH

During high school, Nicole Gunasekera was greatly impacted by the community service projects she was involved in both throughout the Dayton area and abroad. She served as a volunteer at the Miami Valley Hospital for four years where she worked as an aid in the maternity and burn units. She was awarded the Miami Valley Hospital Teen Volunteer Scholarship during her senior year. She volunteered at the Wallace-Kettering Neuroscience Institute, assisting with research focused on using nanoparticles as drug delivery agents to the brain. She was awarded the Kettering Hospital Volunteer of the Year award for her work there. She was also involved in planning various events to aid single parents and grandparents in the greater Dayton area through the Dayton Vineyard Church.

While all of these experiences played great parts in shaping Nicole's heart for service, it was her trip to Sri Lanka that has had the greatest impact on all of her thoughts and worldviews. Six months after the tsunami ravaged South Asia in 2004, Nicole was given the opportunity to volunteer at Silpa Children's Home which houses orphans of both the tsunami and the ongoing civil strife in Sri Lanka. She worked with a group of fourth grade girls, helping them with their school work in English and mathematics. It was this experience that has driven Nicole's passion for international service, and she is incredibly honored to have the chance to continue this kind of service as an Ingram scholar.