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Jessica poses along the parade route near Westminister Abbey this April prior to the big wedding of the royal couple.

 

Her scholarship experience was great, so- -         

       

Jessica Abels has decided to spend more time in London where she will put her journalistic skills to work as a newspaper reporter

 

Jessica, 23, was an Ambassadorial Scholar in the 2010-2011 academic year in London. A native of Kanawha (population 600) in Hancock County near Garner, She enjoyed her stay so much she took a job and decided to stay a while.  

 

“In short, my year as an Ambassadorial Scholar was incredible,” she says.  “I'm sure that's the consensus among all the scholars, but I have to say that this was absolutely life-changing, and I cannot thank Rotary and particularly district 5970 for making it possible.”

 

“My course proved to be just as multi-cultural as I thought it would be.  There were about 120 students on the International Journalism Masters, and only three of them were British.  Among my closest friends now are classmates from France, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Iran, Portugal, Ireland, Israel and Norway.”

 

Jessica was able to witness one of the biggest stories from Britain this year, the royal wedding. Actually, she watched it much like Americans did—on the telly. But she saw the preparations first hand, including the sale of all sorts of souvenirs including shot glasses with the royal couple’s picture.

 

“I spent the summer working on my dissertation, which was more appropriately called a professional project because it was a series of articles totaling 6000 words.  Inspired by my experience with Rotary, I chose the eradication of polio as my dissertation topic,” Ms Abels reports.

 

“For months I interviewed Rotarians, health officials and polio survivors,” she adds. “I spoke to Carol Pandak, Rotary International's PolioPlus director, who actually became very emotional when she talked about how close we are to eradicating polio.  And I spoke to Colin Powell, a Rotarian here in London who contracted polio as an infant and has been crippled most of his life.  He now campaigns for PolioPlus in London, and I spent hours with him learning what it's like to live with the effects of polio and post-polio syndrome.”

 

Travel, especially in Europe, is an important part of the experience.  “While here I had the chance to travel to Israel, Ireland, Norway, France, Scotland and throughout the UK.  Each experience was so enlightening,” she notes.

 

“I have to say that the most interesting and wonderful part of my time here was the experience I had with Rotary.  My host club and host counselor were so welcoming, and I still see them quite often and try to help with events when I can.

 

“My favorite event by far was a community garden planting project we did in the fall, where we had local children plant crocus bulbs that sprouted in the spring to remind people of the purple vaccine against polio.  I was also fortunate enough to be here for the 85th anniversary of my club's charter, and did a special presentation for them on a night when they were trying to recruit new members.

 

“I’ve done 12 presentation to clubs throughout London, and have even been asked to present yet this autumn.  When it came time to write my dissertation, I reached out to all of the Rotarians I had met from all over the district, and was completely overwhelmed by the support and resources they provided.  It was also a wonderful chance to get to see all of them again, and there are several clubs with whom I feel quite close and still keep in touch.

 

“I now plan to become involved in the Rotaract club of Westminster, which is the central London Rotaract club here.”

 

And her experiences have led her to meet with this year’s Ambassadorial Scholar, Meaganne Torkelson from Waverly, who arrived in late September to study at the London School of Economics.

 

Much of Jessica’s educational expenses were covered by a $26,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation which comes from contributions made by members in district 5970.