Scholar at Sea Summer Recipients

Scholar at Sea Recipients Summer 2008

Amanda Reineke

My name is Amanda Reineke and I am a junior nursing student at the University of Northern Colorado. I was just accepted into the nursing program here at UNC and I am really excited to start the clinical portion of nursing school this fall! I grew up in Houston, Texas and graduated there from The Woodlands High School and then moved to Colorado to go to school. My parents have since then moved to Denver, Colorado and my brother is a senior at the University of Colorado. I am a CNA (Certified Nurses Aid) in the operating room at a local hospital and love it because it is such an exciting environment to work in. I like to run, watch movies, play sports, and read in my spare time.

Coming Soon - Read more about Amanda's Scholar at Sea experience

Mark Finster

I was born and raised in the gorgeous city of Newport Beach, California. Growing up in such a beach town definitely rubbed off on me, where I would spend a majority of my free time discovering new surf spots and loving every minute of it. Newport offered me the chance to express my passion for the outdoors, and I consider myself fortunate to have lived in such a beautiful place.

My academic success over the years has allowed me to attend a world-class university in another breathtaking town: Santa Barbara. I truly believe that California is the best place to live in the United States, and while applying to colleges during my senior year of high school, it was a no-brainer to stay within its borders. Exploring Santa Barbara has shown me great places to surf, hike, mountain bike, climb, eat, and everything in between. The University of California has given me an education that would rival the Ivy Leagues, and I am very proud to have qualified for the Dean's List thus far.

Having never traveled outside of the country, I am more than eager to travel aboard MV Explorer this summer. The Semester at Sea Program has been known to change lives and create unforgettable experiences, and I cannot wait to fully understand what that all means. I look forward to the summer of a lifetime!

Read more about Mark's Scholar at Sea experience at http://markatsea.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Jane Raab

Stephanie Raab is from Valparaiso, Indiana and currently resides in Bloomington, Indiana. She is a junior at Indiana University pursing a degree from the Kelley School of Business in Management and Marketing.
Some of her hobbies include traveling, community service, being with family and friends, waterskiing, snow skiing, and being involved in activities around campus. Over the past years Stephanie has traveled across the United States and internationally to Sweden for a summer, China, Denmark, Mexico and Jamaica, and is looking forward to experiencing eight more countries while studying abroad on Semester at Sea in the summer of 2008. On campus, Stephanie also enjoys being active in clubs such as The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Emerging Markets Club (VP of marketing), the International Business Association and the Indiana University Waterski Team. After graduation, Stephanie hopes to backpack and volunteer across Europe and then further her studies by pursing a Masters degree in Business Marketing.

Read more about Stephanie's Scholar at Sea experience at stephanieatsea2008.wordpress.com

Scholar at Sea Winners Spring 2008

Hello! My name is Kaelynn Carol Sporka, and I am happy to say that I am the Scholar at Sea for Spring 2008! I would love for you to take a look at my blog dedicated to Semester at Sea, but before you do, I invite you to learn a little bit about me.

I am a hard-working, independent 20-year-old who was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona, a beautiful little mountain town nestled in the Southwest. I call all of Arizona my home and I am currently a Tempe, AZ resident attending Arizona State University. I am a student within the Barrett Honors College and am studying Tourism Development and Management while earning a certificate in Convention Sales and Meeting Planning. A couple of the extracurricular activities I am involved in include the Travel and Tourism Student Association and SPARKS, an outreach organization dedicated to helping youth in the Phoenix area focus on higher education.

I hope to one day be a large-scale event planner or a travel coordinator to some capacity—anything that gets me working with people or pays me to travel the world. Until I reach that point, I keep my life simple by being an average college student who loves to attend rock concerts or shows, cheer for the Sun Devil football team, play Guitar Hero, dance in the club or the kitchen, and look at the night sky and pretend I am an Astronomy buff.

Even though this is supposed to be about me, I would not be who I am if it weren’t for my parents, my brother and step-sister and the rest of my amazing and supportive friends, family, and mentors. They have never called any of my goals too outlandish and they ultimately prepared me to embark on the biggest experience in my life thus far—a semester voyage around the world.

Read more about Kaelyn's Scholar at Sea experience at http://collegiate_1der.livejournal.com/.