Each year, the Honors College recognizes students who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to service—an integral part of our mission. Please join us in congratulating and thanking this year’s outstanding Changemaker Award recipients, who have served in their communities in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and beyond:
Caroline Kratka
Caroline ('20, SAS/HC/DRC) has a passion for the health and wellness of others, which she has exemplified during her time at Rutgers through her commitment to service. With the highest number of community service hours (125.5) in the Class of 2020, Caroline has made a significant impact on Kier’s Kidz, a New Jersey non-profit helping children and young adults fighting cancer. As a member of the Board of Trustees for Kier’s Kidz and president and founder of the Rutgers chapter, she has also organized 8 stem cell drives on behalf of Kier’s Kidz where hundreds of students donate. Caroline is also part of the Robert Wood Volunteer Intensive Program, where she has volunteered in the NICU and ED for over 100 hours of service. At the Honors College, Caroline has served as a Community Liaison since the fall of 2017 and became the Community Liaison Coordinator in May 2018. In this role, she plans academic, professional development, and community service programs for upper class year honors communities around campus. She looks forward to serving as the Community Liaison Coordinator again for the Sojourner Truth Apartments in the 2019-2020 school year. Around campus, she does research for the Schindler lab and is a member of Phi Mu, a social sorority through which she helped to raise funds for Children’s Specialized Hospital. Caroline also trained as a community volunteer for Medical Reserve Corps, which engages with local communities about medical preparedness and national health initiatives.
A genetics major hoping to pursue an MD-PhD, Caroline says,
"I am so honored to receive the Changemaker Award. I am especially grateful for the emphasis on service in the Honors College, which inspired me to explore more opportunities for service on campus. Service has added so much joy and meaning to my college experience, and I cherish all that I've learned and received from my volunteer work. My career goals have been fundamentally shaped by these experiences, and I am excited to combine my interests in medicine and giving back to my community."
Samuel Snyder
“Community service has always been something that I am passionate about. Growing up with a father who worked for non-profits, I was always attending fundraisers, volunteering at service events, and helping out however possible throughout my home community,” says Samuel (‘19, SEBS/Bloustein/HC).
He holds the position of community service chair in three different student organizations, including the Honors College Alumni Society; his goal is to raise awareness and encourage others to join him in his commitment to service within the local community. Besides participating in fundraisers and campus-wide service events like Dance Marathon and Scarlet Day of Service, Samuel also runs a hospital visitation program in which he and a group of peers spend an afternoon each week with patients at St. Peter’s University Hospital. However, Samuel considers his biggest achievement at Rutgers to be co-founding the “Good Deeds Day” initiative with fellow Honors College senior Andrew Olsen in 2016. An interfaith community service event that incorporates various activities in which students can participate, Good Deeds Day stems from the collaboration between three of the largest religious student organizations on campus: Rutgers Hillel, the Catholic Student Association, and Ahlul-Bayt Student Association. This year’s activities continued the tradition of leaving a positive impact on the New Brunswick community by decorating and packaging lunch bags for Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen, baking brownies and cookies to bring to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at St. Peter’s, cleaning up trash on the streets of New Brunswick, and making cards for patients at both Robert Wood Johnson and St. Peter’s Hospital. Samuel is also a mathematics instructor for the Office for Diversity and Academic Success in the Sciences (ODASIS) and spent seven weeks last summer running from San Francisco to Boston to raise $6,000 for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. A new graduate, Sam has accepted a Princeton in Asia Fellowship for which he will head to Thailand for ten months to teach English to children ages 5-18. After that, he plans to apply to medical school.
According to Samuel, who is majoring in public health with a minor in biological sciences,
“The direct measurable impact on the local community [from this year’s Good Deeds Day] was incredible, but to witness such a diverse group of students and communities unite together under one cause was even more inspiring. Even as I prepare to leave Rutgers, I plan to take everything that I have learned from all of these experiences and bring them with me into my plans for the future.”