This Friday, join us via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86202979419 to hear the latest from Yemariam Workneh, our 2019-20 GRSP student, who continues her studies at Oglethorpe University.
Yemariam's GRSP story is unique - because last year the Rotary Club of Dunwoody agreed to pioneer a new way of selecting students to participate in the Georgia Rotary Student Program. Instead of selecting a student from applications submitted directly to GRSP, we worked with Oglethorpe to identify an incoming freshman from a country new to GRSP who needed financial support. We selected Yemariam, the first GRSP student ever from Ethiopia. We offered an $11,000 scholarship - in equal partnership with GRSP ($5,500 each). And this year, when the pandemic kept us from bringing in a Class of 2020-21, Dunwoody's board decided to provide scholarship assistance to Yemariam for another year; with our allocated GRSP funds and generous contributions from some members, we recently sent a tuition check to Oglethorpe for $6,800.
Yemariam hails from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and graduated high school from the Addis Global Academy just before starting her GRSP experience. She sings, plays basketball, and was president of the academy's Community Service Club. Yemariam is working on an undergraduate degree in International Studies at Oglethorpe.
On Friday, Yemariam will share what her GRSP experience means to her and address some of her trials and opportunities of dealing with the pandemic.
We'll be joined by several members of the GRSP leadership team. And Eleni Bafas, our GRSP trustee and Secretary of the new GRSP Foundation Board, and Lorri Christopher, GRSP's Secretary, will be honored for their financial gifts to GRSP - Eleni with a Will Watt Fellow and Lorri with a Ronnie Waller Fellow.