Schanck to Represent Penn State's Eberly College of Science as Student Marshal at Summer Commencement
Meredith Schanck of Tinton Falls, New Jersey will be honored as the Eberly College of Science student marshal during Penn State's summer commencement ceremonies on 16 August 2008 at the University Park campus. Schanck has selected James Marden, professor of biology at Penn State, to be her faculty escort for the commencement exercises. Schanck, who will be completing a bachelor of science degree in biology, is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta premedical honors society and has been on the Dean's list for seven semesters.
As a student, Schanck participated in a research project involving National Public Radio stations, which was led by a former graduate student in the Department of Sociology. The goal of the project was to collect historical data about the radio stations and to use the data to conduct analyses of human populations throughout the United States.
Schanck said her favorite memories of Penn State come from the experiences she had in Costa Rica as part of a course in tropical field ecology taught by James Marden. "The course was extremely valuable to my studies at Penn State because my classmates and I designed, performed, and reported on original research projects," said Schanck. "The experience of traveling to Costa Rica also was outstanding. We walked through rainforests, snorkeled at a barrier reef, kayaked through mangroves, and hiked below an active volcano."
In addition to her academic activities, Schanck has volunteered for the Association for Women in Science, an organization that hosts a spring stayover for high-school women accepted to the Eberly College of Science. For several days, the women sleep in Penn State's dormitories, attend lectures, participate in laboratory research, and experience campus life. Schanck also volunteered with the emergency medical service of Tinton Falls, New Jersey and the Volunteer Ambulance Corps of Englewood, New Jersey, and she worked part-time as a paid emergency medical technician for AERO Ambulance of Hackensack, New Jersey.
Schanck currently is working full-time as a teacher assistant at Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey's Horizon School in Livingston, New Jersey. The school is an elementary and intermediate school for students with multiple disabilities. Schanck said she is enjoying the opportunity to learn more about her interests in child developmental biology.
"I am honored to have been selected as student marshal for the summer commencement," said Schanck. "This experience has reminded me that, even though I recently moved away from Penn State, I am still a part of the University and will continue to be even after I graduate."
Schank is a graduate of Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune, New Jersey. She will be accompanied at commencement by her fiancé Peter Lindner, her parents William and Kirsten Schanck, her brother Andrew Schanck, and her grandparents David and Ann Muyskens.
CONTACTS
Meredith Schanck: (+1) 908-309-4868, mas5147@psu.edu
Barbara Kennedy (PIO): 814-863-4682, science@psu.edu