In our third stage of selection, our Regional Interview Committee, comprised of staff and previous recipients, virtually interview our Regional Finalists across the country. Thank you to all who served on the committee and helped select the 35th class of Coca-Cola Scholars!
Regional Finalists in D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia were interviewed by Jamie Williams (CCSF), Laura Froyen (2002), Carlos Smith (2010), and Lamees El-sadek (2007).
Greg Melia (1989), LaQuanda Prince (CCSF), Arjun Agarwala (2011), and Athena Lao (2008) interviewed students in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and South Carolina.
Jane Hopkins (CCSF), Nilofer Rajpurkar (2013), Albert Lawrence (2003), and Yosh Miller (2005) interviewed students in California.
Samuel Alemayehu (2004), Carolyn Norton (CCSF), Gabriel Unruh (2014), and Geraldine Haile (2004) interviewed Regional Finalists in Delaware, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.Vernon King (2009), Lauren O’Brien (CCSF), and Justin Hattan (1996) interviewed finalists in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Hodari Brown (2003), Ericia Ward (CCSF), and Lauron Fischer (2007) interviewed finalists in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington students were interviewed by Jamal Edwards (1994), Jane Hopkins (CCSF), and Evangeline Pattison (2002).Heidi Koester Olivera (2001), LaQuanda Prince (CCSF), Pat Blute (2008), and Matthew Cheney (2001) hosted interviews for Regional Finalists at Armed Forces bases and in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.Dilia Caballero (1989), Eric Andrew (2000), Ken Harbaugh (1992), and Carolyn Norton (CCSF) interviewed students in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. “When you get the Coke Scholars scholarship, you spend the rest of your life earning it,” Ken said when discussing the importance of giving back to the Coke Scholars community.
Elliot Koss (2003), Jamie Williams (CCSF), Lesley Wainwright (1994), and Crystal Moore (2003) hosted interviews with students in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, and Tennessee.
Coke Scholar Pro Classes
Coke Scholar subject matter “pros” hosted virtual classes for their fellow Scholars.
Financial experts and advisors Martin Navarro (2005), Justin Elliott (2011), and Brittni Hernandez (2013) led a Personal Finance class that covered budgeting, investment tips, and more.Nathan Sharp (2004), an entrepreneur who launched Facebook Dating and Instagram Stories, and Naomi Shah (2015), Founder and CEO of Meet Cute, hosted Trends in Love and Dating.
Spirit Day
Scholars showed their love for the #CokeScholars community and by sporting their favorite Coke Scholars or Coca-Cola gear with the Alumni Advisory Board for a spirit day on February 13! Courtney Lynn (1996), Cesar Aviles (2000), Nilofer Rajpurkar (2013), Lucas San Miguel (2020), Brennen Feder (2017), and Anita Kishore (1995) shared pictures on social media.
The next spirit day is on March 24, 2023!
More Meet Ups
While visiting Duke University, Adrienne Clarke (1991) and her daughter got the royal treatment from Pranavi Reddi (2022), a freshman at Duke who showed them around campus.Albert Lawrence (2003) connected with Lesley Wainwright (1994), Karyn Harrington (1997), Jany Brown (1992), Alice Park (1999), and CCSF staff while in Atlanta to emcee The Coca-Cola Company’s Global PACS (Public Affaris, Communications, and Sustainability) event.Jane Hopkins (CCSF) and Carolyn Norton (CCSF) met up with Micaela Connery (2004) while she was visiting Atlanta.
Carolyn Norton (CCSF) had lunch with Jaselyn Williams (1999) at The Coca-Cola Company.
Carolyn also met Angela Harrell (1992) for lunch in Atlanta.
Michaella Gallina (2006) and Krystal Kappeler (2009) met up in Denver.
Mark Davis (former CCSF) ran into Julia Durha-Goehring (2010) at the College Football National Championship game in California.
Jany Brown (1992) met up with Graham Van Schaik (2008) while vising Nashville.
CCSF hit the road last September, visiting Coke Scholars in Boston, New Haven, Princeton, Philadelphia, and Chicago, connecting with over 225 Scholars!
Gabriel Nagel (2023) was selected as the Chairperson of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Youth Advisory Council, making him the youngest Chairperson of an official U.S. federal advisory council.
