University Scholars:
Joe Smith Graduated: 1999, Bachelor’s in business administration in advertising and public relations. Occupation: Vice President, Account Director at Draftfcb advertising agency in New York. “It was the University Scholars program’s commitment to community service that led me to New York City. I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity’s local affiliate. I never lifted a hammer, but as a board member helped rebuild the organization. There, I met Bill Farragher, a Youngstown PR maven and local Habitat president. It was Bill who said, “Joe, I think you should send your resume to a friend of mine in New York City.” And so I did. When I first moved to New York, I lived at the Vanderbilt YMCA in Midtown, sharing a bathroom with the rest of the floor. While it was smaller, cramped and went for the “bargain” price of $79/night, I thought, “This isn’t all that different from Cafaro House.” Except, the folks down the hall were from Australia, Germany and France, instead of Austintown, Akron and West Virginia. I began to realize how my YSU Scholar experience—even my life and friends at the dorm— had helped prepare me for my future.”
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It was one of the first big decisions of Travis Watson’s college career. The new batch of YSU University Scholars was gathered in a meeting room in Cafaro House residence hall, breaking into smaller groups to work on their first community service project. Quickly, Watson found himself without a group. He looked around and spotted Mary Campbell. “I thought she was cute, so I asked to join her group,” he said about that chance encounter in August 2008. Within two months, the two were dating. Two years later they were engaged. And on July 14, 2012, in Austintown Community Church, the two will be married. The Watson-Campbell nuptials continue a tradition that dates to 1993, when the YSU University Scholars program started. Over that time, the program has spun off more than 30 Scholar couples that are either married or engaged. In fact, of the 16 classes of University Scholars that have graduated as of this May, all but one has had at least one marriage or engagement. “We have had our fair share of romances over the years,” said Amy Cossentino, assistant director of the YSU University Scholars and Honors Programs. “The Scholars are really one big family, and those connections run deep throughout the years.” “When you have so many like-minded people with the same work ethic, the same longterm goals who are all living in one place, it’s just natural that some of them are going to end up together,” said Scholar Andrea Snyder. Snyder and fellow Scholar Tom Wakefield met as freshmen in 1998. In 2002, Snyder graduated with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice, and Wakefield earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and economics. Four years later, they married. Eight members of their wedding party were fellow Scholars. Both went on to earn Ph.D. degrees – Wakefield in mathematics and Snyder in counseling psychology. While the number of children from Scholar marriages is not known, the Snyder-Wakefield union alone has resulted in three – all at once. The couple had girl triplets in January 2011 – Elena, Coraline and Meredith. Mom and dad have already done the math – Elena, Coraline and Meredith would be part of the University Scholars Class of 2038. “It’s the next generation of University Scholars,” joked Wakefield, now an University Scholars Tom Wakefield and Andrea Snyder married in 2006 and had triplets in January 2010 - from the left, Meredith, Coraline and Elena. assistant professor of