This past Friday, GRSP student Sonali Mahagamage presented to the club about her experiences in Georgia over the past year. Mark Sprosty reminded everyone of the RCSE Membership Survey and the upcoming May Social at The 5 Spot on Wednesday, May 21. Before Sonali began her presentation, Bill Von Alt awarded Sonali the Paul Harris Fellow award! He then shared an overview of the GRSP program stating that it is an ambassadorial scholarship unique to Georgia that has hosted 3700 students from over 100 countries!
Sonali began her presentation by talking about her GRSP journey. She has been a student at Georgia Southern Armstrong campus this year and has attended multiple Rotary meetings as well as immersed herself in her school as well as United States culture. To her surprise, she has now become a fan of college football! Through Rotary, she has been able to help with various service projects such as Hurricane Debbie relief and helping assemble "Welcome to the World" bags for new mothers abroad and here in Savannah. She said the best part about participating in service and socials was getting to know members of our club and other fellow Rotarians. As a GRSP student, she went on six different GRSP weekends which are hosted at various sites throughout the state. Sonali commented that each town was different and she learned a lot about the diversity of Georgia! She told us stories of running the Disney Princess 10k and Half Marathon where she raised money for the American Cancer Society.
In conclusion, she said that here year here forced her out of her comfort zone and she is so glad that it did as she learned so much! She was so grateful to our club and all of her host families as host families can make or break your year. At the end of her presentation, Jim Drake came up and presented Toni Marwitz with the Hue Thomas Fellow award which was given to her for her support of the GRSP Foundation.