Rocío Borreguero Bolañoswas recently named as the 2008-09 Merrill T. Scholarship recipient. Prior to coming to BSU, Rocío had worked as a volunteer in Spain. Her voluntary experiences included providing support to homeless people, improving people's lives in Africa, and preserving natural resources and cultural heritages in the world.

Rocío is now doing her undergraduate studies in Social Work at BSU. She has been actively involved in voluntary activities that promote quality life in Muncie. She has been working with Sourthern Care Hospice and TEAMwork in Muncie where she assists community members to maintain their dignity and quality in the remainder of their life and participates in projects to raise public awareness of poverty problems in Delaware County. Together with colleagues, she produced radio spots about poverty problems in Muncie in collaboration with the Indiana Public Radio and created several documentaries about people living in poverty in Muncie, which are running on public television.

Rocío reported that these experiences made her become aware of social injustice and the importance of teamwork. She felt connected to the community through her volunteering and practicum as a social work student. Her goal is to work as a social work who "make possible that everyone will have her/his own place in the society regardless of race, culture, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation."

Congratulations Rocio!!