|
C O M M U N I T Y N E WS |
|
|
MY LIFE |
GREATER |
|
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 | COMMERCIALAPPEAL.COM |
|
Rhodes senior keyed to service |
|||
 Karolina Grabowicz, a graduate of White Station High School, grew up in East Memphis. Now a senior at Rhodes College, she has integrated service into her educational experience. |
By Dionne Chalmers Special to My Life
Inside the classroom, Rhodes senior Karolina Grabowicz deals with numbers. Outside the classroom, she deals with the heart. Like so many Rhodes students, Grabowicz has integrated service into her educational experience. “Service commitments build your personal skills that are applicable to any career,” says the economics and business administration major. “A year ago, I interviewed for an intern position in investment banking, and the interviewer focused on my classes and my internships at other financial institutions. When I was asked if there was anything I wanted to add about myself, I mentioned my experience at St. Jude C h i l d re n ’s Research Hospital that really has built up my character and leadership skills as well as the ability to work in teams and in sensitive and diverse situations.” The interviewer was impressed and she got the job at Morgan Keegan. Grabowicz also has held |
internships at Ernst & Young in Warsaw, Poland, and at Mercer Capital. In addition to working as a St. Jude intern, Grabowicz enjoys interacting with patients and their families as a volunteer. At Rhodes, she is the executive board director for Up ’til Dawn, a studentrun organization that raises donations for St. Jude; philanthropy chair of Delta Delta Delta sorority and a Bonner Scholar who educates other students about volunteer opportunities. A White Station High School graduate, Grabowicz with her family moved to the Memphis area from Poland in 1991 because her brother was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative disease affecting the voluntary muscles and eventually the heart and breathing muscles. To educate the local community about DMD and to raise donations to support research for a cure, Grabowicz has teamed with three other Rhodes students to organize an event on April 4. It will be at the Madison Hotel and includes a reception, silent |
auction, screening of the film “Darius Goes West” and a Q & A with the film’s crew as well as talks about current DMD research from local physicians and representatives from the local Muscular Dystrophy Association. After graduation from Rhodes in May, Grabowicz plans to pursue a master’s degree in accounting. Regardless of where she works, she says she plans to continue to devote herself to philanthropy. For those considering voluntarism, Grabowicz offers these tips: • Don’t be afraid to put yourself in a situation out your comfort zone because the situation might help you overcome your own internal obstacles. • Be dedicated, consistent and engage in what you do. • Keep a calendar of your activities so you can evaluate whether a commitment is too big. • Keep a journal or a list of your commitments for reflection and evaluation of your personal growth. Dionne Chalmers is with the communications office at Rhodes. |