Athena Study Abroad offers a wide variety of scholarships, aimed at making study abroad as affordable as possible while rewarding students who best possess the qualities Athena values most. The purpose of the Athena Summer Service Scholarship is to support Athena's mission of creating a service-minded global community. In order to be eligible for the scholarship, each student must be accepted into an Athena summer study abroad program. All scholarship-specific eligibility must be met as well.

Christina Samore, University of California, Riverside

Christina Samore

Athena would like to congratulate the winner of the 2011 Summer Service Scholarship, Christina Samore! Christina helped at the Student Homeless aid Relief Project (also known as SHaRP), a student organization at her school which is dedicated to helping homeless of Riverside by providing sack lunches, hygiene kits, and dog food for their dogs. She has been involved with this club since her freshman year of college and has loved every minute of it. She joined SHaRP three years ago because she has always had a strong desire to help people and this club gave her the perfect opportunity.

Katlyn Gutshall, University of Pittsburgh

Katlyn Gutshall

Athena would like to congratulate the winner of the 2010 Summer Service Scholarship, Katlyn Gutshall! Katlyn participated in the Jumpstart Pittsburgh's Readers Program early this April. Through this program, volunteers spend the day in a lower-income pre-school classroom singing, reading and playing with at-risk children in order to improve their communication skills as well as provide the children with a positive mentorship experience. Although a frequent volunteer at Readers Programs, Katelyn found this one particularly memorable because of the bond that she shared with the young boy she had been working with, Amir. She was inspired to devote herself to becoming a teacher and helping other children like Amir after realizing the impact she had on him that day when he whispered to her, "Miss Katie, I love you! You are my best friend and I want you to come to my birthday party!"

Athena would also like to thank our other applicants for submitting entries for the Summer Service Scholarship! Below is a sample of service projects our other applicants submitted for the scholarship:

Jessica Montjoy

Jessica Montjoy, University of Cincinnati

Jessica Montjoy chose to volunteer with the American Girl Fashion Show, an event that funds the Aubrey Rose Foundation, a local charitable organization that assists families caring for children with life-threatening illnesses. Jessica's duties as a volunteer involved distributing clothes for the children modeling, directing them to their dressing areas, and spot checking their outfits before they went on the runway. This volunteer experience not only provided her with the opportunity to help out for a valuable cause, but also provided her with hands on experience in the fashion industry in which she has a strong interest in pursuing as a career path.

Kaitlin Waring

Kaitlin Waring enjoys working with children and chose to spend her day of service volunteering at a local daycare in her town owned by a family friend of hers. She found this to be the perfect opportunity for her to not only spend some time with the kids but also to give back to her friend as a sign of appreciation towards her. Through this service, Kaitlin had a fun day and a great experience working with the children in the daycare. This opportunity further cemented her desire to work with children in her future career, as well as allowed her to show her appreciation to a very important person in her life.

Lisa Coffell

Amy Waber

Lisa Coffell & Amy Waber,
Saginaw Valley State University

Lisa Coffell and Amy Waber devoted a day of service to Adopt a Highway, a program that allows for a group of individuals to maintain the cleanliness of both sides of a highway for at least two years. The particular mile and a half of highway that Lisa and Amy devoted their service to was adopted by Saginaw Valley State University's Biology Club. This service experience helped them realize the negative effect individuals have on the environment, and how important it is to make a positive change in the world.