Honorable Mention Winner
Amit Verma
Eckerd College
Senior in Computer Science and International Business
3.81 GPA

Quick! What’s the capital of Burkina Faso? You might find one out of 10 people who know that Burkina Faso is even a country, never mind what the capital is. However, when this question arose, Amit Verma, 22, stood up in one of his classes at Eckerd College and cried out, “Ouagadougou,” and with this response he gained everyone’s attention.

“Amit is broadly erudite, and it isn’t just maps, and it isn’t just math,” says Mark B. Fishman, associate professor of computer science. “And it isn’t just an accident that he came to be chosen as one of the top 100 students in an entire nation."

Since being named to this prestigious top 100 list in his home country of Kenya, he has twice been named to the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges, an award he received thanks to his work ethic both academically and as a public servant.

Verma organized, managed, and monitored the activities of 40 participants in the revival of a recycling program on campus. “The recycling program continues on campus, and I believe that it will serve as a model for students to take back to their communities,” Verma says.

“One of the primary goals I had in taking a leadership position in the International Student Association was to forge a stronger bond between the international and American students on campus,” Verma says. “There had always been the belief that the diverse cultures of students prevented them from effectively bonding together.”

After his freshman year, Verma was able to take his role as a leader when he was appointed as a Residential Advisor to the English Language Services dorm. Verma is expected to be a peer, a role model, and a leader for the students from as many as 20 different countries that enroll at Eckerd each semester, a position that suits his experiences well.

While growing up in Nairobi, Verma became an avid table tennis player—so good in fact that he traveled to 17 different countries, representing Kenya’s national team. This experience allowed him to receive Olympic solidarity scholarships to travel to Tokyo, Japan and Hamburg, Germany to train and hone his skills. It was this experience that helped him to become fluent in five languages, a strength that has enabled him to be even that much better with the international students.

Aside from his international flair, there’s another half of Verma’s Eckerd life. Instead of just majoring in International Business, Verma decided to double the load by also adding a Computer Science major.

Along with his job in the Information Technology Center, Verma has become involved in Eckerd’s new “Senior College.” This program takes people age 55-and-up and teaches them how to use computers and the internet in their everyday lives. “I find the gleam of delight in their eyes very rewarding, when they can use technology to instantly ‘chat’ with their families in other parts of the world, a phenomenon that [seniors] had believed to be impossible,” Verma says.

Verma’s has done all of these projects under a strict budget. With a small percentage of his income coming from student loans, Verma has made the most of his scholarships and the money he receives from working as an RA, in the information technology center, and in the elderhostel center.  RG

Contact Verma at vermaak@eckerd.edu