The Pearson Prize Fellows Have Arrived!

The Pearson Prize is a student leadership award that recognizes and provides support to exemplary students who are distinguishing themselves by leading public service efforts in their local communities. This year, 20 National Fellows and 50 Community Fellows have been named from more than 20,000 applicants.

From August 9 through 11, the 2011 Pearson Prize National Fellows are joining other student, business, community, and education leaders at the Pearson Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. While there, they’ll be sharing their experiences. 

As the Fellows arrived at the Leadership Summit, we asked their thoughts around why they applied for the Pearson Prize and their expectations for the summit. Here are some of their responses.

Jon Adams

Helena College of Technology of the University of Montana

“I was pretty amazed at the videos last year of the phenomenal people that were selected [for the Pearson Prize], and I’m really looking forward to meeting some of these people and hearing some of their stories.”

Muthuraman Alagappan 

Stanford University

“I applied for the Pearson Prize mainly because I wanted to see what it was that motivated students in America to pursue community service…I’m so glad to be a Pearson Prize Fellow; it’s a huge honor and I’m really excited for the next couple of days – to learn from everyone, to meet everyone, to see what energizes them, and hopefully to see how we can work together for many years on doing innovative community service projects.”

Daniel Brannon 

Anne Arundel Community College

“I expect to have an opportunity to meet some amazing people, people who have been practicing leadership for a long time, who can help us and guide us…It’s just a wonderful opportunity to meet people who are living amazing lives.”

Colin Carlson 

University of Connecticut

“What really struck me about the Pearson Prize is it’s about finding the best people in every field, the people who are really making a difference anywhere. That, to me, is something that seems really unique. What I’m definitely looking forward to is just getting to know the other Fellows and getting a sense for what other people are doing out in the community…I’m hoping this is going to be a huge energizer for next year for me.”

Timi Chu 

Northwestern University

“I’m expecting to hear a little bit about what the other National Fellows have done in their communities as well as get some skills on how to develop further what I’ve done in my community, and see what they have to offer for me and what I can further do to help the children that I work with.”

Cristina Garcia

University of Texas at Dallas

“[My expectation is] to meet a phenomenal group of individuals that share some of the same interests…I’m really excited to meet everyone, work together with Pearson, be part of the Leadership Summit, and learn from everybody.”

Jarell Green

University of Nevada, Reno

“My expectations are to come and meet the other Fellows, bounce ideas off of each other on how we can come together in our communities as better leaders, as well as see D.C. as a whole.”

Amber Koonce

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“From what I’ve seen so far, all of the students are so exciting and engaging and interesting. So, I’m really looking forward to working with my peers and hearing their creative ways of approaching issues within our society, [as well as] coming up with some really innovative and creative ways of addressing these issues.”

Caleb Pendleton 

The University of Texas at San Antonio

“I expect to learn more leadership skills, be exposed to other people that think differently than I do, and learn from them.”

Maria Vertkin 

2010 Pearson Prize National Fellow 

“Definitely the best part of [the Leadership Summit ] is the people. Last year, I got to meet so many wonderful and inspiring people. And I’m hoping for the same this year.”

Garrett Wright

University of Southern Mississippi

“My expectations for the next few days are to be able to collaborate with the other National Fellows who give so much back to their community. It seems as if we all have an amazing impact on our community. We can do so much if we come together… And we can go home and try to change our community even more than we already have.”