Matthew Watson Memorial Scholarship Fund

At Centennial High School Aidan participated in the band program all four years having been in the highest band, Jazz band and marching band every year. He was a section leader for his last two years and was a member of the leadership team in marching band as well. He also participated on the school’s baseball team all four years. As far as his academic plans go, Aidan hopes to do well enough on prerequisite classes at College Park so he can get admission to Maryland's medical school in Baltimore without having to take the rigorous TEAS test.

Kelsey is so excited for her first year at the University of Maryland! She will major in Soil and Watershed Science and will participate in the Once and Future Planet living-learning community. Kelsey hopes to get involved with music, sports, and other clubs, such as marching band. As a girl scout, she has just finished her gold award, in which she re-designed a classroom at her church. This summer, she seeks employment in the READY program with Howard Ecoworks to work on small environmental projects involving natural resource protection and restoration.

I have had a good first year at UMD. I ended my first semester with a 3.73 GPA and hopefully will have a better GPA for the spring semester. Since I am at home for the year, I picked up a part-time job at a bakery. It has been good to be up at moving at work while having to sit down all day for school. Along with that, I have tried to participate in some school clubs to experience more UMD culture and meet new people with similar interests. I have been active in a music club called The Terrapin Label, and some cultural clubs like the Chinese Student Association and Nepali Student Association. Overall, these small new additions to my life during the pandemic have helped me with staying resilient. In a time where being social is a hard thing, making new friends in the form of coworkers or meeting new people at clubs has helped me stay social. I hope all is well with the Watson family during these trying times.

This past year has brought me new opportunities, despite college being in an online setting. I have been living in my sorority house, which allowed me to spend a lot of time with my close friends. I also was elected to be V.P of house management, which has been a really great way for me to be involved with my sorority and meet new people. In the fall semester, I began volunteering in a research lab under a bioengineering professor. This has been a great experience for me because I am working in person for her, so it has given me a way to keep routine during online school. Over the summer, I will be working in her lab and hopefully starting my own research project. I am also very excited for the upcoming year because I just applied to study abroad in Madrid for spring 2022. I am so excited about these programs opening up again! Overall, while this year was certainly unexpected, I still have really enjoyed my time. 

2020 - 2021

Julia just finished her Junior year at the University of Maryland. She is still studying Hearing and Speech Sciences as well as Spanish in hopes of one day becoming a bilingual speech therapist. This past school year Julia was a volunteer for the Maryland Mentor Corp and the Social Interaction Group Network for All (SIGNA). She also was a Terp Thon team captain for her sorority Alpha Chi Omega and served as a teaching assistant for her favorite course, Introduction to Linguistics. She was recently elected as President for the National Student Speech-Language Hearing Association for the 2021-2022 academic year. This summer she will be working as a newborn hearing screener at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and studying for the GRE. You can find Julia running, reading, or hanging out with friends and family in her free time. Julia is looking forward to her senior year and can't wait for tailgates, Terps games, and the return to normalcy!

2019 - 2020

Julia loved her freshman year at College Park. As a Hearing and Speech Sciences major, she has joined the pre-professional chapter of NSSLHA, National Student Speech-Language Hearing Association, at UMD. She is running for a board position in May. Julia served as a research assistant this past semester and analyzed the mean length of utterances from mothers to their babies. Julia aspires to become a speech-language pathologist and very much enjoys participating in UMD's Intern for a Day program. She has gotten to shadow professionals in the field of speech-language pathology each semester. Julia is also in the process of adding a Spanish minor, and plans to study abroad. She continues to love volunteering around campus with various organizations like TerpThon and Terps Against Hunger, running, going to the UMD football basketball games, and meeting new people. Julia made Honor Roll, and is very excited for her sophomore year!

Kevin has had a very eventful freshmen year in terms of extracurriculars and education. He will be applying to the Smith School of Business next semester in hopes of double majoring in business and computer science. While currently a member of multiple student organizations such as Green Terps and Terpthon, and an on campus worker at Chick-fil-A, Kevin plans to tackle even more extracurriculars throughout college such as joining a professional fraternity.

Nina is a senior Psychology and Theatre double degree candidate, and a recipient of the College Park Scholars citation in Global Public Health. Nina is the President of the Undergraduate Theatre Artists Society and a Creative and Performing Arts Scholar. She has performed in various mainstage productions of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies such as Love and Information and Hamlet Replayed. Nina, a member of the Honors program within the Department of Psychology, is also one of the department’s Undergraduate Program Managers and a research assistant for the Maryland Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Lab. She acted as a teaching assistant for Psychology of Women and will be a teaching assistant for Community Interventions on Domestic Violence this fall. While conducting an undergraduate thesis on bisexual women’s female friendships and sexual orientation disclosure, Nina also participates in the Social Identity Research Lab. Nina is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, Psi Chi Psychology International Honor Society, and Triota Women’s Studies National Honor Society. She aspires to become a counseling psychologist specializing in drama therapy in order to work with women who have experienced intimate partner violence and other forms of trauma.

William plans to graduate in 2018 with a degree in Computer Engineering. He currently interns at a small company in Rockville. Apart from work, he enjoys playing guitar. He is self-taught and is working to teach others this summer. 

Over the past year, Christi has continued to work for the marketing department of Maryland Athletics and is gaining more responsibility in her role. This past season, she oversaw marketing for Maryland’s Division I wrestling team, allowing her to use her knowledge of sports marketing to create and execute in-match promotions, group packages, and special events. Furthermore, she continues to work on campus for the Department of Resident Life in the office of Student and Community Development Programs. This position allows her to connect with current and future UMD students and facilitate various enrichment programs for students who live on campus. Finally, she is utilizing leadership skills in my role as Property Manager for Alpha Omicron Pi.

Ben McHugh is a Junior in the University of Maryland's Computer Science program. On campus he has been involved as a Senator in the Residence Hall Association and he is currently a Resident Assistant in Elkton Hall. One of Ben’s goals over the next five years is to program a piece of software ( a game or a mobile app) and to potentially start a company around it. In his spare time he enjoys playing soccer and lacrosse. Ben is also a huge Maryland sports fan and is most excited for the basketball season this year because he expects us to make a big run into the NCAA tournament.