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June 7: Colonnade at the Zoo June 4: National Volunteer Council Meeting Jun 18: New York Regional Alumni Event |
Colonnade Society members and guest of the College of Chemical and Life Sciences are invited to embark on a zoo scavenger hunt featuring encounters with wildlife and Maryland faculty partnering with the Smithsonian Institution to help protect endangered species. |
 Helping Students Reach for the StarsA Match Made at Maryland
Known to everyone as Krissie, she says, "I see them every semester, more than I ever expected. We go out to dinner and I update them on my ambitions at Maryland, and they share advice and stories about their time at the university." Sharon Wiebking notes, “I’m tempted to e-mail her every month, ‘Hey, what’s up,’ but I don’t want to be too intrusive, even though she does think we’re cool.” Jokingly, she adds," She even takes our advice more than our own kids did." The annual Celebration of Scholarships is where similar relationships between donors and scholarship recipients often begin. More than 500 people gathered at this year's reception, where an open format allowed lots of informal interaction and conversation. The Wiebkings say they couldn't be more pleased with the first recipient of the Maxine and Edward Stebbins & Loretta and Joseph Wiebking Scholarship, named in honor of both their parents, who never had the opportunity for a college education. "She cares about her education, she is excited to be at Maryland and she is taking advantage of the many opportunities the university has to offer," says Sharon. Krissie, a French/Spanish double major with a minor in Italian lives in Language House and has already studied abroad twice with assistance from additional scholarships. She spent three weeks last summer in Montpellier in the South of France and winter break in Genoa, Italy. "I took Intro to Italian in Genoa and started learning the language there. I just absorbed it," she says, noting that making the trip to Italy was one of the best decisions she had made. "I'm really thankful for the all opportunities private scholarships have made possible for me. Without them I would not be at Maryland." Guy and Sharon, both the first in their families to attend college, value what an education can provide. "If I hadn't come here, I don't know what I would have become," says Guy, now CEO of Provena Health Systems after spending 28 years in sales and marketing with Abbott Laboratories. Maryland has been the launchpad for many in their family. Guy says he first saw Sharon in astronomy class and solidified the relationship at a Dionne Warwick concert in Ritchie Coliseum. Sharon's sister and husband later met at Maryland, as did Guy's sister and her husband. "We're back twice a year—for a football game in the fall and Maryland Day in the spring," says Guy. Creating the scholarship enables the Wiebkings to provide opportunities for young people who lack the financial resources to follow in their footsteps at Maryland. "Our parents sacrificed a lot to help us get an education, and my mom, who lives in Catonsville, is really pleased that we are now able to help someone else," says Sharon, a former English teacher who later established reading programs in two school systems and now volunteers in the educational field. "Our relationship with Krissie feels really good,” says Guy. “She is exactly what we had hoped for in a scholarship recipient." Learn how you can make your mark on Maryland by supporting scholarships.  | ||||||
