For Lorraine Lepere, a highlight of attending college in the United States is double Thanksgiving celebrations.
With a 3.7 cumulative average, she’s also a committed student.
Lepere, a senior mathematics major at D’Youville College in Buffalo, was chosen by the college as the recipient of a $1,000 Marguerite d’Youville Scholarship for her academic work and service in the community. The scholarship is named for St. Marguerite d’Youville, a Grey Nun, Sisters of Charity, who founded the order in the 1700s in Canada, and recognizes students for academic excellence and community services.
When she read about the scholarship in an email from the school’s administration, she immediately began to think about the essay she would submit. She wrote about an elderly couple who stayed in their New Orleans home throughout Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of their city, and how she got separated from her tour group in Italy but managed to find unique tour guides and managed to communicate with them, even though they didn’t speak any English and she could barely get by in Italian.
The 21-year-old also wrote about her commitment to academics, and her experiences as the president of D’Youville’s student government.
“I basically wrote about what I’ve done over the past four years, and how my community service has exemplified D’Youville’s principles, and about being a leader,” she told This Week Thursday from a friend’s home in Buffalo, where she was preparing to celebrate American Thanksgiving. “I get to celebrate twice. That’s one of the benefits of going to an American college.”
Lepere was also co-editor of the student newspaper, but had to give up her position to participate in the study abroad program which landed her in Italy. The 21-year-old spent three months learning Italian with a group of 15 peers from D’Youville. While touring Rome, she was separated from her group.
“I met a couple who guided me around Rome. They just saw me looking lost, and decided to show me around,” she said. Since her trip two years ago, she has lost contact with her Italian friends, but she is ever-grateful for their kindness. She decided to pass on the couple’s generosity. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the college intended to cancel annual trips to the area, where students volunteered in schools and shelters. When Lepere caught wind of the idea, she fought to save it. She wasn’t only successful, Lepere was chosen to run the program.
“We met the people whose houses we were cleaning out, and there was an older couple never left their house. They’d been living there for 50-some years, and they stayed in the attic. They kept an axe with them, so they could climb onto the roof.”
© Copyright 2006 Metroland Media Group.
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