Quite a few Park Scholars and alumni received media coverage in recent weeks:

Michael Ian Cedar talked with Chasta Hamilton Calhoun ’07 about reinvention as part of his blog, “The Legacy of You.” Hamilton Calhoun owns Raleigh-based Stage Doore Dance. She, along with Mitch Danforth ’07 and Kyle Held ’09, led a presentation on this same topic during the first biannual sPark in April 2016.

Following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte earlier this fall, Keilah Davis ’19 wrote an op ed for NC State’s Technician. Davis, a physics major and Durham, N.C. native who performs with NC State’s Acappology, conducted astronomy research at Yale University for eight weeks this past summer.

For their Civic Engagement Initiative, Charlotte DeVol ’19 and Christian Rust ’19 are building upon the work of fellow Park Scholars by organizing DKMS bone marrow donor registration drives on campus this year. They shared their goals with NC State’s Technician. DeVol is a biomedical engineering major from Clemson, S.C., and Rust is a chemical and textile engineering major from New Bern, N.C.

Mirtha Donastorg ’16, a researcher with the editorial standards division at CNN World Headquarters, got her first byline. A biology major, Donastorg spent her junior year studying abroad in Paris. She held several journalism-related internships as a student, and served as a deejay and co-director of public affairs for NC State’s WKNC 88.1 FM.

On Oct. 26, as part of Red & White Week, Jasmine Flood ’12 participated in a NCSU Libraries-hosted “Amazing Alumni” panel featuring local NC State alumni who are pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Flood, whose degree is in textile technology, owns Riada Adair Design Co. and Adair’s Art & Design.

Sydney Grice ‘17, a political science major from Richlands, N.C., spent this past summer participating in an archaeological excavation in Petra, Jordan as part of an NC State study abroad program. The excavation team discovered two ancient marble statues of the mythological goddess Aphrodite that are described to be worthy of display at the Louvre. Grice’s most valuable takeaway was having the opportunity to draw connections between topics like sustainability, politics, and math. This skill will aid her in her plans to pursue a dual law degree and master’s in public policy, and engage in human rights advocacy work.

Maggie He ’20 wrote an article for the October issue of College Bound News, offering advice to prospective college students based on her own experiences with the college selection process. He, from Daphne, Ala., is studying nutrition science with plans to pursue medical school.

This past summer, Charlotte native Alex Kim ’17 studied chemical engineering and French through the IPL International Summer School at CPE Lyon. “It was an incredibly transformative and worthwhile experience,” he said, “and helped me solidify my proficiency in the French language.” Kim demonstrated this in a promotional interview for CPE Lyon.

Ashley Lawson ’18, a mathematics and mathematics education major from North Carolina’s rural Stokes County, participated in (and will, next year, lead) an Alternative Service Break focused on language and diversity. Lawson, as well as Park Faculty Scholars Walt Wolfram ‘05 and Bob Patterson ‘17, were quoted in a fascinating article about linguistic- and dialect-based discrimination that appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Belton Moore ’20, an economics major from Red Springs, N.C., was quoted in a Technician article about NC State’s second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration.

The NC State Alumni Association recently featured Ellen Orabone ’10 in its blog, “Red & White for Life.” Orabone works with Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Brighter Bites to help schools in low-income areas foster healthier eating habits among students and their families.

In September, NC State’s Build-A-Block red-ribbon organizing committee broke ground on what will be the largest Habitat for Humanity build ever associated with a U.S. college chapter. Sarah Paluskiewicz ’16, who is currently earning her master’s in textile engineering, co-chaired the Build-A-Block initiative.

Nancy Thai ’14, who works as a regional preparedness specialist for the American Red Cross Northwest Region, was featured in a Seattle news outlet for her work coordinating cleanup efforts in Louisiana after late-summer storms flooded 30+ parishes. Thai also recently returned to her native eastern North Carolina to assist with disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.

Eric Whitmire ’14 received a Best Paper Award at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers in Heidelberg, Germany. Eric is a Ph.D. student in computer science and engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. His award-winning paper discusses his work on EyeContact, a high-speed, high-accuracy mobile eye tracking system for virtual and augmented reality applications. His goal is to make it easier to interact with technology by enabling new kinds of sensing on the human body. This has implications for research that could benefit medicine and many other fields.