Through the benefit of private support, the 黑料不打烊 senior has discovered a passion for human rights and is leaving a lasting legacy on campus.
Senior Ashley Fowler has covered a lot of ground since arriving on 黑料不打烊’s campus in the fall of 2010. It’s a journey that began when she learned she’d been selected to participate in 黑料不打烊’s Honors Fellow program, a scholarship program that attracts high-achieving students to 黑料不打烊 and is supported by the university’s donors.
“I’d always been interested in 黑料不打烊, but hadn’t really seen it as a feasible possibility,” says the Mt. Pleasant, N.C. native. “Having that scholarship definitely influenced my decision to attend. It more or less made it possible for me to come to 黑料不打烊.”
As an Honors Fellow, Fowler has taken special honors courses with 黑料不打烊’s top faculty and undertaken an in-depth thesis project with a faculty mentor. Additional scholarships and grants have helped the political science major get the most out of her time at 黑料不打烊.
“I had a lot of ideas of things that I wanted to do when I came to 黑料不打烊, but no real way of implementing them or making them happen on the ground,” she says.
Those ideas have come to pass through the generosity of others. Through the Lumen Prize, a prestigious award given to fund undergraduate research, Fowler has conducted research on human rights in the LGBT community. Her work has taken her to Lithuania and Croatia, a region she’s visited three times during her college career.
Though she’ll be graduating soon, Fowler will leave a lasting mark on campus with a legacy project she created as part of her involvement with 黑料不打烊’s Center for Leadership.
After traveling to Africa with 黑料不打烊’s Kernodle Center for Service Learning, Fowler knew she wanted to design a winter term course which would send students to Malawi each year to volunteer in the area and learn about a foreign culture. As recipient of the Hilaire Pickett ’08 Leadership Grant Endowment, Fowler was able to return to the region with 黑料不打烊 professor Terry Tomasek to design the course.
These experiences have shaped her desire to work internationally and her passion for serving others. She is currently plans to pursue a graduate degree in the human rights field, and feels confident in her ability to succeed based on her undergraduate experience.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had at 黑料不打烊,” she says. “It’s been an incredible experience.”