“i’ve had the opportunity to network with a lot of thought leaders who are doing innovative work. There’s a good network of us on the Hill.”
over the past decade, the number of roanoke College students who have received prestigious scholarships and fellowships through such organizations as the Fulbright scholar Program, the Harry s. Truman scholarship Foundation, the barry Goldwater scholarship and excellence in education Foundation, and others, has risen exponentially. in fact, for three consecutive years, the College has been named a top producer of Fulbright U.s. students.
— Zahava Urecki ’16, professional staff member, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, 2015 Harry S. Truman Scholar
but what pivotal role do these awards play in the lives of those who receive such honors? We asked five alumni. For them, the awards were transformative.
scholar stories by LesLie TayLor
THE STAFFER
10 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE TWO 2019
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lexibility is a must when scheduling a workday interview with Zahava Urecki ’16, a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. Urecki works for ranking committee member Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), the Democrats’ top member on the Senate committee devoted to energy issues. The work can be high-pressure with long hours. Consequently, the accommodation of scheduling changes is warranted in the pressure cooker that is Capitol Hill. “My apologies,” she offers profusely, returning a phone call several minutes past an appointed interview time. Asked how much time she can spare, she replies “15 minutes,” which in the hurried moment, seems generous. Urecki, of Charleston, West Virginia, has been working on the Hill since 2013. She interned for Sen. Manchin and former U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall II (DW.Va.), the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at Roanoke, getting a good taste of the career she’d first set her sights on as an 11-year-old fan of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” The internship cemented her desire to be part of a world of enormous power, influence and impact. She majored in political science at Roanoke and demonstrated her commitment to a career in public service through work as a writing center tutor and president of the Hillel Jewish Student Group. Then in 2015, Urecki became the first Roanoke College student to receive the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship, awarded to students viewed as having the potential to become change agents in the world. “I never would have applied for the Truman if not for Dr. [Jennifer] Rosti,” Urecki says of the College’s director of major scholarships and fellowships. “That’s not the type of thing I would have done. But Roanoke believed in me more than I believed in myself.” The Truman, to use well-worn but perfectly good phrases, has opened doors and broadened horizons for Urecki. “I’ve had the opportunity to network with a lot of thought leaders who
Zahava Urecki, in the halls of the U.S. Capitol, believes she is in the best place to help her home state of West Virginia.
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