One of my favorite memories from my volunteer work in high school was dressing up as the mascot for a children's hospital and walking around the halls. You can probably imagine that the small children felt confused and apprehensive when a 6'5" Scottish terrier walked into their room.

Service to the community was a lifestyle Dan learned at an early age. He and his family would serve the community by feeding the homeless, delivering meals to needy families, and visiting the elderly and sick. Dan's passion later focused on children and the ill.

Betsy Shenk is a senior from Columbus, Ohio majoring in Neuroscience in the College of Arts and Science. For eight years Betsy has worked with Operation Smile, a medical non-profit that provides free reconstructive surgery to facially deformed children in developing countries and in the U.S.

Upon reading my old biography, I remember how unsure and anxious I was about my personal and professional future. If any of you out there in high school or college do not know what you want to do with your life, my advice is to stop worrying about it and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way and, most importantly, forge your own path.

As an Ingram Scholar, Bradley served in the healthcare field at Metro General Hospital and Alive Hospice. His summer project was in Montgomery, Alabama where he studied the policy implications of capital punishment at the Equal Justice Initiative law firm.

In high school Abbey dedicated much of her time to co-coordinating a writing workshop program for underprivileged children, working with elderly at a nursing home, and tutoring Spanish speaking immigrants in Lawrence, MA. As a first year Ingram Scholar, she looks forward to exploring and pursuing many of her diverse service interests.

Jill Johnson currently tutors at a local elementary school and assists at an after school program. This year she plans to work with children, helping them to volunteer in their communities.

During his four years as an undergraduate, Justin worked extensively with the Room in the Inn Chapter at St. Augustine's Chapel located on the Vanderbilt University campus. Room in the Inn is a Nashville-based organization in which churches and community groups from across the city provide meals, clothing, and shelter to homeless men and women from October to April.

While at Vanderbilt, Margaret concentrated her service work on family literacy and social justice issues. She served as director of Aiding Inmate Mothers, a program linking Vanderbilt volunteers with women incarcerated at the Tennessee Prison for Women, which allowed the mothers to regularly record children's books for their children, who received the books and recordings by mail.

Lee Ann is a journalist at The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville. While at Vanderbilt, Lee Ann participated in a performing arts group serving children and youth. Through the Ingram summer stipend program, Lee Ann joined Vanderbilt professor Gregory Barz, Blair School of Music, on a research trip to eastern and central Uganda. The research focused on the ways indigenous music is used in HIV/AIDS education.

Erin O'Neil's current service activities include reading with children at the Martha O'Bryan Center, the Ready Readers program, and Service-Learning Co-Chair for SGA.

Fred Valizadeh is a '02 alumnus from Houston, TX where he has lived his whole life, except for his four years at Vanderbilt. He was an economics major that went on to obtain a Masters in Public Health from the University of Texas. Although he is in the midst of a career change, Fred's service interest's focus on children's issues. At Vanderbilt he worked with Kids and Computers, Yes U Can, and Dance Marathon.

Being an Ingram Scholar liberated me to serve like I had never experienced. It afforded me the opportunity to dive fearlessly into people's lives -- people like Sam and Jenni from Gilda's Club, Katie from the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, and Karla from the Boggy Creek Gang Camp.

After graduation, Kate went to Cambridge University as a Rotary Scholar where she graduated with her Masters in European History. She then joined the Capital Group, an asset management firm, and spent two years in Los Angeles as an analyst and two years in New York as a marketing manager.

Gayle Rogers is currently completing his doctorate in English at Northwestern University, where he splits his time between writing his dissertation on the politics of British and Spanish literature in the twentieth century and teaching fiction classes.

While at Vanderbilt, Rohit co-founded Yes U Can, a mentoring organization for elementary students. Rohit was also involved with Student Government, Nashville Rescue Mission, Vanderbilt Students Volunteering in Science, and Community Vanderbilt. During his summers, he also volunteered at an orphanage in New Delhi and a nursing home in Japan.

Patrick currently attends the Florida State University Film School -- aiming for a M.F.A. in Motion Picture and Recording Arts by the summer of 2006. He has worked in every capacity on a film crew on close to 75 films and is qualified to work as a cameraman on

Ginger left Visa after several years of employment there. She plans to travel to Panama/Costa Rica for Spanish lessons and then to Nicaragua for some experience in microfinance. In the fall of 2005 she will apply to graduate schools.

I graduated from Vanderbilt in 2000 with a degree in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. After graduation, I worked at Gap Inc. in San Francisco as a Merchandise Planner. After two years with Gap headquarters, I moved to Cincinnati to work at Procter & Gamble in Consumer and Market Knowledge (CMK).

Rasheedat Fetuga is the Community Organizer for the Children's Defense Fund, and has opened a new Children's Defense Office in Nashville, Tennessee. Her mission is to identify and empower current and emerging leaders for children, to inspire them to act effectively and build strong, healthy communities, and to engage and sustain them with lasting relationships in providing an effective voice for children.

Alan Linch is a third year law student at Tulane University where he is specializing in environmental law. His current service interests include international energy policy advocacy as well as local environmental education initiatives.

Peachy Myers graduated in 2000 with a degree in Sociology. Her work has taken her from Boston to San Francisco to Washington, DC to Austin, where she has served as an Americorps*VISTA member, anti-poverty advocate, homeless service provider, hurricane relief provider, Obama organizer, and White House liaison. 

An Honors Scholar and a magna cum laude graduate of the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt University, Jeff majored in mathematics and economics and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He served as President of the Vanderbilt University Undergraduate Honor Council in 1999.

During her undergraduate career, Lyndi devoted a great deal of time to Vanderbilt's Alternative Spring Break, a program which sends hundreds of students each year to work in communities across the U.S. and beyond. Lyndi served as a site leader, board member, and eventually co-chair of ASB.

Rachel McDonald is an alumna Spanish and International Policy major in the College of Arts and Science. Denton, Texas is her home, and here she is working diligently with the incorporation of service-learning into the curriculum at Vanderbilt beginning with a Maymester to Chile. She also works at Our Kids, and Room in the Inn.