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| EDUCATING LEADERS OF FAITH & CHARACTER |
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Mendez and Martinez Awarded Rotary Scholarships
 UST international studies majors Thomas Mendez and Jessie Martinez have been awarded the Rotary Foundation’s Ambassadorial Scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year, allowing them the opportunity to study abroad for nine months following graduation from UST.
As recipients of the award, Mendez and Martinez will serve as ambassadors of goodwill to their host country, completing a service project and speaking about their homelands to various Rotary clubs and other groups.
As of right now, neither student knows what country they will travel to. The Rotary Foundation will choose among a list of the students’ top five choices, all of which are cities in Latin America.
Both students say they look forward to the opportunity to experience the culture and language of the country they visit while improving the lives of its people through service projects.
Mendez, who has worked as the vice president of public relations for the Center for International Studies Micro-Credit Program, says he would like to further his involvement with micro-credit work in whatever nation he is placed in. If the opportunity to complete service in that particular field is unavailable, however, he says that he will be just as equally satisfied serving the underprivileged in whatever way possible.
“Every Latin American country that I have chosen suffers from poverty in one way or another,” he said. “Regardless of whether there is an opportunity to implement micro-credit, there is always an opportunity to serve. I want to help people in one way or another wherever I go.”
Martinez is a member of Rotaract of River Oaks in Houston, a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women between the ages of 18 and 30.
In his role as an ambassador of goodwill, he says he hopes to develop a dialog between Rotaract of River Oaks and Rotary clubs in the country he visits to address issues of education and poverty.
“Education is a tool that can change the world, but so many people are denied it,” he said. “Every child should have an education and I am willing to do what I must to start the process of providing this opportunity to the underprivileged. Education will empower these children to overcome the obstacles of poverty.”
Both Mendez and Martinez say they want to continue serving the public interest in their chosen career paths.
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