Emerald Berg '06 has been awarded a year-long Ambassadorial Scholarship by the Corona chapter of the Rotary Foundation. The Ambassadorial Scholarship, 800 of which were awarded in 2005-06, is intended to facilitate international understanding among people of different cultures and societies.
Berg will travel to Mexico City, Mexico, in August and begin law classes for two semesters. While in Mexico City, she will live with a host family and enroll in the Universidad Panamericana, while also coaching a local girls' soccer team as part of the service aspect of the award.
"As in all of Latin America, machismo culture is still alive and well in Mexico," Berg says. "Exercise and sports enhance mental health, offering young women positive feelings about body image, higher self-esteem, tangible experiences of competency and success, and increased self-confidence."
Berg hopes to foster these experiences in the young girls in her host-village while also encouraging and helping them learn English.
After the completion of her scholarship, Berg will return to the United States and enroll in law school in 2009 to earn a degree in child advocacy. She then hopes to "work abroad or in California, and use the skills learned during my Rotary Scholarship experience to speak for the rights of the under-represented." She says longer term goals include an interest in working for the state of California as a juvenile advocate.
The scholarship is the latest in a long line of outstanding acts of community service earned by Berg. While a senior at CMC, Berg helped organize a fall-break trip to Southern Mississippi in order to provide students an opportunity to aid in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Berg and fellow students helped rehabilitate dilapidated areas by removing debris, gutting houses, and cutting down fallen trees.
Berg also was awarded a Fulbright for 2006-07 to work as an English-language teaching assistant in South Korea. While in Asia, Berg created and executed six lesson plans per week, and taught 40 hours weekly, all while actively participating in her community's activities, joining a hiking club, and participating in nightly tae kwon do lessons and earning her black belt.
"Emerald delights in people and loves adventure," notes Edward Haley, the W.M. Keck Foundation Chair of International Strategic Studies. "That's most of the explanation for her wonderful Fulbright and Rotary wins. At CMC,
associate professor of modern languages Carrie Chorba and I helped a bit by encouraging her and providing some writing direction, but the energy and daring and excellence that account for both achievements are entirely her own."
Julia Masnik '08