Gerald G. Portney Memorial Scholarship Fund

Kavindya Dissanayaka is a transfer student from community college, so she missed the freshman and sophomore year experience at UMD. At first, Kavindya was nervous about the transition from a small campus to a large one, but she honestly wishes she had attended UMD from her first semester. Kavindya appreciates the diversity and the educational opportunities that UMD offers. She was able to complete an internship one semester, and Kavindya learned a lot about doing research from that experience, which she can use in the real world.

Isabella Sponaugle is an accounting major at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where she transferred after receiving her two-year degree from community college. She currently works full-time while attending school, with the goal of obtaining her Certified Public Accountant licensure. Earning her Bachelor's Degree will allow Isabella to achieve this while learning at one of the top business schools in the U.S. 

Andrew Sanville has taken full time classes and worked full time throughout his entire college career, and when time allows, he attends club meetings for a few different groups on campus to help him engage with the school. Andrew has managed to maintain a high GPA despite many classes being moved to online during the pandemic. He also has an internship now as he nears the final few semesters of his degree program. 

Coming off the heels of an amazing 2018-2019 year at my previous institution I was feeling confident when I transferred to the University of Maryland.  I had successfully founded two engineering clubs, secured the acquisition of solar powered cars, and came ready to find my niche. Building off my momentum I earned positions as a student ambassador for MathWorks and Wolfram at UMD. Taking on these responsibilities prompted me to get involved with academic student organizations. Even more so it helped me be a part facilitating continual club activities during the COVID. I’m pursuing a Physics and Computer Science degree, so I tend to interact with clubs within my academic focus. Alongside my core curriculum, I’m taking advantage of research opportunities. Having graduate school for Aerospace as a goal, it is great to see how supporting the UMD STEM faculty is in allowing students to engage research across majors.

Elizabeth is a senior Animal Science major at UMD. She is pursuing a career in veterinary medicine with interest in pathology or immunology as a specialty. When she is not in school, she is a full-time veterinary technician at a small animal clinic. Though she has worked in a number of fields within veterinary medicine and animal science such as laboratory animal care, wildlife rehabilitation, and small animal surgery, her true calling arose during her internship at a local animal rescue. This lead to her love of shelter medicine, and a long-term goal of owning and operating her own animal rescue. In her (very limited) spare time, she fosters orphaned kittens in her home. To date there have been 36 kittens who started out life with Elizabeth before going to their forever families since she began in 2014. As an advocate of low-cost spay-and-neuter and Trap Neuter Return (TNR), she volunteers her time helping the community decrease the homeless animal population. She lives in Finksburg, MD with a very animal-tolerant boyfriend named Curt, and three rowdy teenage cats: Obi-Wan, Padme, and Drizzle.

Kaitlyn Torney is 23 years old and has a one year old son named Kaiden who means the world to her. She is majoring in Animal Science at the University of Maryland with the concentration in Animal Care and Management. She is one of the eleven siblings who are all very close. She grew up in Calvert County and eventually moved to be closer to school and have better job opportunities. She grew up around animals throughout her childhood. She can't remember a time that she didn't have a pet of some sort. She is currently a Vet Assistant at Banfield Pet Hospital and loves her job. She has been at Banfield for about 2 years now and have been given the opportunity to grow tremendously there with her technical and leadership skills. She has a dog named Denali who is also a year old. Kaiden and Denali are inseparable. She hopes to either become a Veterinarian or work for the USDA. She currently lives in Silver Spring where she alternates from going to school and working on the days she doesn't have class. In her spare time, one can find her reading a book, sketching in a sketchbook, or binge watching Netflix shows. Her absolute favorite thing to do however, is spending time with her family.