Alumna Gains Global Perspective to Improve Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Wasiq Muhammad Muhammad Ali — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:42:31 +0000

Alumna Gains Global Perspective to Improve Opportunities for Students with Disabilities Wasiq Muhammad… Mon, 07/25/2022 - 14:42

Each year, hundreds of American students, aged eighteen to twenty-four, vie for the opportunity to work and study in Germany through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program. The reciprocal program, which has run for thirty-nine years, selects seventy-five Americans and seventy-five German professionals to spend a year experiencing life in their respective cultural-exchange nations.

This year, Mason is celebrating the selection of Honors College alumni, Abigail Hawkins, to the prestigious CBYX program. Hawkins, who graduated from Mason in May 2022, majored in global affairs with concentrations in human security and Middle East and North Africa Studies, and a minor in Arabic.

Throughout her undergraduate study, Hawkins worked with Mason’s College Diabetes Network and gained experience in the nonprofit sector to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility.

Alongside her studies at Mason, Hawkins is a two-time alumna of the US Department of State's Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), a program designed by the U.S. government to expand the number of American students, who represent a range of majors and disciplines, studying and mastering critical foreign languages. In addition to her participation in the CLS program, Hawkins has studied abroad in Jordan, Spain, and Japan.

With her newest opportunity in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program, Hawkins continues to forge a path for herself in international education with the goal of improving access to study abroad opportunities for students with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

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alumna

Critical Language Scholarship

Honors College

College of Humanities and Social Science

Fellowships

A champion for health equity, senior leader raises the bar

Colleen Rich — Tue, 04 May 2021 17:03:58 +0000

A champion for health equity, senior leader raises the bar Colleen Rich Tue, 05/04/2021 - 13:03

Erica Harp. Photo provided

Health equity is a motivator for graduating senior Erica Harp.

Her philosophy is simple: Everyone should have access to affordable, culturally sensitive, and comprehensive health care, no matter your socioeconomic status or identity.

“Community health is so important because it takes a preventive, systemic, and holistic approach to health problems,” said Harp, who is majoring in community health and Spanish, and is a member of Mason’s Honors College. “Public health considers the environmental, political, and social determinants that impact a certain health outcome or make access to health care more difficult for vulnerable communities.”

In 2019, Harp was a research assistant on an OSCAR Summer Team Impact project that developed an eye-tracking study and survey to evaluate what kind of alcohol product packaging is most salient and attractive to youth.

In 2020, she worked with Matthew Rossheim, assistant professor of public health, on another OSCAR Summer Team Project to develop and evaluate counter-marketing against electronic cigarettes. Harp presented a poster with results of this research at the American Academy of Health Behavior’s virtual conference in March 2021.

“Graphic health warnings have been used in cigarette advertising for many years,” Harp said. “But just the past few years, we have seen a lung injury epidemic from e-cigarettes.”

Harp had two study-abroad experiences at Mason: an eight-week Critical Language Scholarship program in India as a part of the U.S. State Department program, and a research project in Argentina, where she investigated the access incarcerated women have to sexual health services.

“I learned a lot about Argentina’s public health care system and what health care delivery looks like across the country and in many of the different providences across Argentina,” she said.

While in Argentina, Harp improved her fluency in Spanish. She currently volunteers at the Culmore Clinic, where she uses her foreign language skills to provide Spanish to English medical interpretation for the Spanish speaking immigrant population.

“Erica is very organized, takes initiative, and has creative solutions,” Rossheim said. “I am very glad to see Erica’s passion for improving public health, safety, and well-being. I have no doubt that she will continue to make great contributions to society.”

Beyond her research, Harp participated in the Honors College Connects program, where she worked with the Cornerstones nonprofit on a neighborhood outreach program and has interned for the National Association of Community Health Centers. She was also part of the Student Health Advisory Board and George Mason Democrats, and was president of Roosevelt at Mason, a policy and advocacy think tank.

As a senior, Harp worked to form a coalition of students who are interested in addressing food insecurity on campus.

“A fantastic part about my time at Mason is being involved in student organizing, advocating for student needs, and bringing awareness to relevant issues,” said Harp, who plans to work for a public health nonprofit in Northern Virginia after graduation.

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Graduation

Students

College of Health and Human Services

Honors College

Critical Language Scholarship

Student Spotlight

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