First Year Honors Student Carolina Amparo shares her story and involvement at AU

 My name is Carolina, and I am from Lehigh Acres, Florida. My parents are both immigrants from South America who came to the United States in search of a better life. Upon arrival, neither spoke English, and both had to start from scratch. Through hard work, they managed to build a home for our family and helped me attend university. They could do this because America offered them freedom, prosperity, and security they could not find in their own countries. Realizing this was one of the first things that made me love America.

In middle school, I studied American History with Mr. Greg Balan, who later graduated from Ashbrook's Teaching American History graduate program. With Mr. Balan, I read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution for the first time as well as other essential primary source documents. We had conversations as a class—conversations in which we were free to think, debate, and even respectfully disagree with each other.

With Mr. Balan's encouragement, I applied for and became a student in the Ashbrook Scholar Program at Ashland University. Now, I continue my studies of American history and government with some of the nation's best professors. I have also joined other organizations at AU that have greatly enriched my undergraduate experience. The Diversity Scholar Program has introduced me to a network of other students with similar backgrounds. We are bonded by shared experiences and work to motivate one another in our academic pursuits. Through the Honors Program, I get to participate in an exciting intellectual community. I can also take challenging cross-disciplinary courses where I am exposed to subjects outside of my majors. As a Peace Scholar for the Ashland Center for Nonviolence, I have served as a member of the ACN Programming Committee and co-founder of Peace Talks. Through these activities, I continue to learn about leadership and the positive impact of peace-related initiatives on others' lives.

I plan on majoring in Political Science and Political Economy with a minor in Ethics. In the next four years, I look forward to exploring the topics of freedom, justice, and good government with the Ashbrook Program. I also hope to learn much through the Diversity Scholar, Honors, and Peace Scholar Programs. I am grateful to all of these organizations and, ultimately, Ashland University for the chance to obtain a well-rounded education that will prepare me for a fulfilling career.