The end of another academic year has arrived, and UT's most elite bunch of freshmen and sophomores—the Forty Acres Scholars—are taking a look back at their accomplishments on the UT campus thus far. Last week, all 23 of the current Forty Acres Scholars met at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center to present about their endeavors at UT. The premier full-ride, merit-based scholarship for UT, the Forty Acres Scholars Program brings the nation's most talented students to Texas. Throughout the four years in the program, scholars are required to give back to the community, participate in a global experience, and grow professionally. During their presentations, the scholars discussed their efforts in those three areas with a panel of successful Texas Exes, including FASP fundraising chair Tom Dunning, BBA '65, Life Member. So what all have the Forty Acres Scholars accomplished in just one year? Well, a lot. Caroline Meyerson, a freshman business honors and Plan II honors major and Houston native, spent her first year on campus volunteering as an application evaluator for incoming students in the Business Honors Program. She recently became the director of alumni relations in Student Government, and is a member of the judicial committee of her sorority. This summer, she will be taking 13 hours of coursework and will be a camp counselor at Camp Texas. The Forty Acres Scholars Program, Meyerson said, has had a tremendous impact on her accomplishments as a freshman. “I honestly had no idea what this program would do for me,” Meyerson said. “The exposure that we get to this alumni base and the automatic friend group—every opportunity was so amazing.” Connecting to that Forty Acres Scholars family was something sophomore and accounting, business honors and humanities major Armiya Humphrey recommended for future scholars. [pullquote]“The exposure that we get to this alumni base and the automatic friend group—every opportunity was so amazing.”[/pullquote] "Get to know as many people as possible within the program," Humphrey said. “Networking is so big, and I think one of the important things the Forty Acres Scholarship Program does is connect you with people, students, and alumni. Take advantage of everything because it is worth it.” Humphrey recently received a President's Leadership Award at The EXies, an awards ceremony put on by the Texas Exes. The award recognizes undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the student community on campus. Last summer, Humphrey worked with Empowerment 101 in San Antonio as a mentor to develop the SAT skills of high school minorities. Her next pursuits include mastering the Spanish language in Santander, Spain, this summer, completing the MPA program, and serving on the Business Honors Program student conduct board. Katie Mark, an architecture and architectural engineering honors freshman from Bethesda, Md., has found her home away from home in the Forty Acres Scholars Program. "I knew absolutely no one when I decided to come here," Mark said, "so getting to know the scholars during retreat and Camp Texas made the transition easier.” Mark received the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, after 13 years of service. She hopes to volunteer with a troop in Austin. All the scholars spoke of the incredible impact the program has had on their lives at UT. Abhay Divakaruni, a freshman Plan II and business honors major, said he found his sense of self-identity within the program. He is now writing a fiction novel about the journey of self-discovery and is in the process of starting a new organization on campus, the Society of Bards, to help others share their stories. He will spend his summer interning with Merrill Lynch in Sugar Land, Texas. Divakaruni's advice for future Forty Acres Scholars: “It’s okay to be human. The first year is the time to explore and understand you will make mistakes,” he said. “In the beginning, I think the best thing is to know you don’t have to achieve something great right off the bat. That you can be human for a bit.” Photo by Andrew Alden Miller.