College Houses AmeriCorps Flood Volunteersout a basement on
Rivershore Drive in Moorhead.
Building Upon Norwegian Ties
As the Fargo-Moorhead community prepared for the Red River's second crest, a team of nine AmeriCorps volunteers quickly responded. They were a handful of the thousands of volunteers who turned out to lend a hand wherever needed.
The team arrived in town April 1 and when Concordia reopened April 6, the college provided them a free place to stay and eat. Coordinated by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the AmeriCorps volunteers helped the community through April 20.
"We did everything from relieving the tired staff at FirstLink by answering calls to sandbagging, dike building and mucking out basements," says Nate Schmitz, AmeriCorps team leader.
On the last leg of their 10-month service commitments, Schmitz says the team members described Concordia as "amazing." "People have gone above and beyond to meet any need we could possibly have," he says.
In fact, the attitude in all of Fargo-Moorhead was drastically different than the devastation and despair that normally linger in a disaster area, he says. "Yes, there was devastation, but it feels like Fargo-Moorhead won," says Schmitz. "You guys sandbagged your way out of history books."
Two Students Honored With Fulbrights
Megan Stolte '09, Lakeville, Minn., and Sarah Walker '09, Sioux Falls, S.D., were awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships.
Stolte received a grant to teach in a primary school in Valencia, which is in eastern Spain, for nine months. "This is just a wonderful opportunity to get back to Spain," says the Spanish and organizational communication major who studied abroad in the fall of 2007.
Walker, a history and English literature major, received a grant to teach in South Korea. She credits her professors for helping inspire her.
"Although I've always been pretty driven, my mentors at Concordia have pushed me to a new level of critical thought and achievement in my studies," Walker says.
Concordia has averaged about one Fulbright winner a year since 1980, says Dr. David Sandgren, the Fulbright adviser on campus. Winners complete a rigorous application process that includes writing essays and interviewing with an on-campus committee, which then recommends candidates to the national program. Demonstrated fluency in the country's primary language is a requirement for some programs.
"These are absolutely standout people," Sandgren says of Concordia's two winners. "It's an enormous accomplishment for both of them."
Digging Up History One Artifact at a Time
Michele Hockett '10, Havre, Mont., has always been drawn to the history, myths and stories of ancient Greece. A semester with the Credo in Crete program solidified her interest.
This summer she'll return to Greece as a field excavator at the Athenian Agora, one of the most important sites in the history of Western civilization. Hockett is one of 15 American students chosen this year to work at the premier American archaeological site in Greece.
She will spend nearly two months studying the finer points of archaeology, from digging and cleaning techniques to classifying finds.
"The thought of walking where Socrates and Plato walked excites me," she says. "When you touch something that hasn't been touched for thousands of years, you're building history."
Dr. Peter Schultz, chair of the art department, says the experience is a once-in-a-lifetime honor for Hockett.
"Michele is the kind of student for which you can wait a lifetime and still never find," Schultz says. "Dedicated, intelligent, possessed by an unmatched sense of integrity - she is a perfect ambassadorfor Concordia."