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Matt Dawson
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the Roanoke Times Article about Matt
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Matt
Dawson lived with cancer for almost 15 years. His mother was diagnosed
with breast cancer when he was five. After a ten-year remission, however,
the cancer came back to take her life in 1999, when Dawson was a junior
at Ferrum College.
That was a turning point in his life.
Although many young people would have dropped out of school or, at least,
seen their grade point averages take a dive, Dawson was motivated by
his mother’s last wishes.
“She told me to put school first,
and from then on, I worked to carry out her wishes,” says Dawson,
a 1997 graduate of Annandale High School.
JoAnne Dawson would be proud to see how
he’s done. He’s had to work hard to fight back from the 1.9
g.p.a. he had at the time of her death. He also upped the ante, picking
up an additional major, Russian. This academic year he took on additional
responsibilities, serving as the Student Government Association President.
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With his leadership, his Russian language skills, and his Political
Science studies, Dawson was selected in April for one of the most prestigious
State Department grant opportunities available to young graduates. He’s
been chosen as a USA-Russian Young Leadership Fellow for Public Service
to study, work, and serve the neglected and homeless children in Pskov,
Russia.
The program is a paid one-year internship
to nurture the next generation of American and Russian leaders and to
ensure that young people on both sides will increase their understanding
of and support of democracy. The program provides one calendar year
of intensive academic and professional training to young US and Russian
leaders in fields such as conflict resolution and international relations.
The program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
of the U.S. Department of State.
Only about a dozen students from around
the U.S. were selected for the Fellowship. Making those odds stack higher
against Dawson was the fact that the Ferrum College Russian Department
consists of one classroom and one professor. Lucky for Ferrum Russian
students, that teacher is Ms. Sasha Saari. Saari is a one-person professor,
ambassador, and exchange consortium.
“I owe a lot to Professor Saari.
She’s opened a lot of doors for me. Because of her I was able to
spend three weeks in Pskov last year. I wouldn’t have even applied
for the grant if it hadn’t been for her,” says Dawson.
“We did for Matt what a small, private
college should do. We opened the door and held out the map. Matt took
the map and stepped through,” says Saari.
Ferrum College is a four-year, private,
co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist
Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s
degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private
colleges. To learn more about the College, call 1-800-868-9797 or visit
www.ferrum.edu. # # #
Read the Roanoke Times Article about Matt here!
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