Jupiter, FL (October 19, 2010) – When was the last time you found all of the following in the same room?  Four undergraduate students who had just completed a summer of research as part of a prestigious national program, four who had just come back from studying overseas, five who had completed a corporate internship, four who had experienced an intense Outward Bound program, and four who had completed a non-profit internship. All of these students were at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach at the annual Flagler Scholar Retreat of Florida Atlantic University’s Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College.
            The Henry Morrison Flagler Scholarship Program, created by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, supports exceptional undergraduate students from the state of Florida to attend the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University. The Henry Morrison Flagler Scholarship is a 'full ride' merit-based award that provides extraordinary student-leaders with the financial freedom to pursue their higher education goals and participate in annual enrichment programs. The program seeks to further personal and intellectual development of outstanding scholars within the environment of Florida Atlantic University’s residential Honors College as a foundation to promote global awareness, understanding, interaction, and peace.
            In addition to receiving full coverage of their tuition, room and board, Flagler scholars are also given the opportunity to participate in four enrichment programs during their summers.  These opportunities include an Outward Bound Program the summer before the Freshman year, a Non-Profit Program the summer before the Sophomore year, an Enterprise/Corporate Program the summer before the Junior year, and a Study Abroad Program the summer before the Senior year.
            Among the students who attended this year’s Flagler Scholar Retreat were David Friedman, Kira Geiger, Philip Olsen, and Alexa Robinson, the freshmen who were initiated into the program through their Outward Bound experience. David went on a two-week sailing trip in Maine, Kira experienced an eight-day river rafting adventure, Philip conquered a two-week Alaska mountaineering expedition, and Alexa tackled a fifteen-day rafting and kayaking voyage.
            Imarhia Enogieru, Natalie Harrison, Maxwell MacEachern, and Kelly Novinski were the sophomores who completed non-profit internships. Imarhia performed research at Colorado State University as part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Natalie was a part of TEAM-Effort, a summer mission trip, where she spent eight weeks helping with roof renovations, paint jobs and landscaping in Cherokee, North Carolina and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Maxwell worked for Shake-A-Leg Miami, which offers a universally accessible water sports facility for people with disabilities, youth, and families. Kelly worked for WatchingAmerica.com, a site that has translations of foreign opinion pieces so that Americans and non-Americans alike can become aware of the global opinion about the United States.
            Megan Allore, Rachel Blythe, Michael Metzner, Elizabeth Santo, and Meridith Wailes were the juniors who completed corporate internships. Megan and Rachel both worked for a local entrepreneur, Lani Click. Later in the summer, Rachel also performed research at the University of Maryland’s Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Michael researched at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for ten weeks. Elizabeth worked for David Stern Jewelers in Boca Raton, and Meridith interned at Hopping, Green & Sams, an environmental law firm in Tallahassee.
            Alexa Billow, Eric Bishop, Valerie Cannon, and Alan Gray were the seniors who had just come back from studying overseas. Alexa attended a study abroad program in Heidelberg, Germany. Eric interned for ten weeks at Open University in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.  Valerie and Alan were both located in Spain, with Valerie completing an academic study program and Alan interning with a tax/immigration attorney.
            Dr. Jeffrey L. Buller, dean of the Wilkes Honors College, said “Each year I’m amazed by the sheer breadth of the Flagler Scholars’ experience.  For bright, highly motivated Florida students, the Flagler program is an incomparable way to develop their leadership skills.  These students are on their way to an incredible future.”  Do you know someone who has what it takes to become a Flagler Scholar?  Maybe that someone is you.

byline: WHC Student Intern Tamara Howard