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For six members of ������Ƶ’s Class of 2025, the transition from student to professional didn’t mean leaving the community they’ve come to know over the past four years. Instead, they chose to stay and serve.

Through the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program, these recent graduates are spending a year working with local organizations across Alamance County, contributing to efforts that strengthen health, education and economic opportunity. Along the way, they’re gaining hands-on experience, mentorship and a deeper understanding of the community just beyond ������Ƶ’s campus.

The 2025–26 fellows are putting their ������Ƶ education into action and helping build a stronger future for Alamance County.

Sam Hinton ’25

Advancing Community Health

By Avery Craine Powell

When Sam Hinton ’25 decided to pursue the Year of Service Fellows program, she saw it as an opportunity to deepen her connection to a community she had already come to care about.

“I really wanted to get the opportunity to have a more hands-on role here as opposed to research, which is a little bit more like a bird’s-eye view,” Hinton says.

Hinton, who earned a degree in public health studies and political science with minors in Spanish, Latin American studies, and peace and conflict studies, now works with the Alamance County Health Department through the fellows program.

Although she didn’t grow up in Alamance County, Hinton says the area feels like home. Her grandparents and extended family live nearby, and her academic work at ������Ƶ strengthened those ties. As a Lumen Scholar, she studied how immigration policy and discrimination in Alamance County influence how members of the Latino community access health care and social services.

“I was interviewing health care and social service providers from across the county on where they were seeing gaps in their ability to provide care,” she explains. “Through that research, I got to meet a lot of the people that I work with now and familiarized myself with the different service provision organizations throughout Alamance County.”

That familiarity helped ease her transition into the fellowship. At the health department, Hinton’s responsibilities range from administrative and event planning work to engaging directly with community partners. She primarily works with the Behavioral Health and Substance Use Division, which focuses on addressing the opioid crisis and expanding addiction services.

It’s been really great to see how deeply everyone there is motivated by the mission of providing health care and improving the lives of people in Alamance County. — Sam Hinton ’25

The experience has given her a deeper appreciation for the people committed to this work.

“It’s been really great to see how deeply everyone there is motivated by the mission of providing health care and improving the lives of people in Alamance County,” she says. “Despite the fact that everyone there has so much work to do and is incredibly busy, people are really committed to improving conditions for people across different communities.”

Hinton credits ������Ƶ’s public health studies program, including its required practicum, for preparing her to step confidently into the role. The program, she says, ensures students graduate with a strong understanding of the broader forces shaping health and equity.

“They make sure students leave ������Ƶ aware of the disparities and inequalities that exist and really gear the program toward a health equity lens.”

For Hinton, the fellowship represents both a continuation of her academic work and a new beginning.

“I feel like the hands-on nature of all of my education at ������Ƶ has really come in handy as I’m transitioning into the workforce,” she says. “I feel really adequately prepared for whatever projects are being thrown my way.”

Anna Matawaran ’25

Strengthening Community Partnerships

By Avery Craine Powell

Community engagement has been central to Anna Matawaran’s ������Ƶ experience, and it continues to guide her work after graduation.

“The program stood out to me because of that piece of civic engagement and making a difference in a community that I’ve already lived in and gotten to know for the last four years,” she says.

Matawaran, who graduated with a degree in sociology and a minor in communications, now works with Impact Alamance, a community health legacy foundation created from the merger of Alamance Regional Medical Center and Cone Health.

Impact Alamance focuses on improving community health, strengthening education and building partnerships across Alamance County. Matawaran serves on the organization’s “stronger” team as a program assistant.

One of the projects she has enjoyed most is the For Alamance initiative, a partnership with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation that encourages residents to take action on issues that matter to them.

“That has been really rewarding,” she says. “I’ve met so many different people through that, which I’ve really enjoyed, folks from all parts of the county that I didn’t know existed before the fellowship.”

Community was also what first drew Matawaran to ������Ƶ from her hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

“That small community feel was so unique from all the other colleges I looked at, and I knew I wanted a liberal arts education and loved that ������Ƶ offered all the resources that it does for undergraduates specifically,” she says. “It’s a beautiful campus. How can you not love it?”

Her path to sociology began unexpectedly.

“On a whim, I signed up for a sociology course my first semester here,” she says. “It was a class on how sociology can look at housing and unhoused people, and that class stood out to me above all my other courses. I fell in love with the way that sociologists think about the world and the problems that it can solve.”

Matawaran credits ������Ƶ’s liberal arts approach for preparing her to work in the nonprofit sector.

“My ������Ƶ education gave me the liberal arts background that I needed to step into the nonprofit sphere,” she says. “My degree gave me a lot of the building blocks to understand what I’m hearing from community members and what issues Alamance County is facing.”

Now, her fellowship continues to deepen the understanding of community she discovered at ������Ƶ.

“Something that my mentor always says is that community is messy,” Matawaran says. “I love how rich and diverse the community here is; it brings this authenticity to the work.”

Jasmine Walker ’25

Supporting Local Students

By Avery Craine Powell

Giving back to her hometown is what drew Jasmine Walker ’25 to the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program.

She now works with Alamance Achieves, an organization focused on improving education outcomes from “cradle to career,” while also collaborating with Impact Alamance to promote educational equity across the county.

“When I found out it was through the Alamance-Burlington School System, which I’m a product of, I wanted to help the school system since they helped me become who I am,” says Walker, who earned a degree in human service studies with a minor in poverty and social justice.

Walker began her fellowship in June 2025 and quickly found herself immersed in the work, helping lead “Ready Freddy,” a three-week summer program that prepares students for kindergarten.

She also assists with the Teachers Leadership Academy, which helps educators develop leadership skills, and supports “The Basics Alamance,” a countywide initiative that provides caregivers with evidence-based strategies to promote healthy brain development in young children.

I don’t think I realized how many
organizations and partnerships there are to make Alamance County continue to thrive. — Jasmine Walker ’25

Walker’s passion for helping others guided her to choose human service studies as her major.

“I wanted to help people, and I’ve always been passionate about supporting others,” she says. “I grew up volunteering and doing different things with my church. When I was a freshman, I met a senior in the program, and I took the intro course and really liked it. I liked how personable the department was.”

A native of ������Ƶ, Walker attended the ������Ƶ Academy in high school before enrolling at the university as an Odyssey Program scholar and later joining the Periclean Scholars program.

“The Odyssey Program really changed my life,” Walker says. “I was able to study abroad in Florence, Italy, during my junior year, and I was there for three and a half months. That was cool; I never thought I was going to be able to leave the country because of finances.”

Through Periclean Scholars, she also traveled to Costa Rica during Winter Term to study the needs of a partner community.

“We studied Costa Rica as a whole and looked at what the specific community that we were going to travel to needed,” she says.

Even though she grew up in Alamance County, Walker says the fellowship has helped her see her hometown in new ways.

“It’s cool to be able to meet different leaders and partners in the community, and hear what they do,” Walker says. “I don’t think I realized how many organizations and partnerships there are to make Alamance County continue to thrive.”

Abby Lee ’25

Expanding Community Wellness

By Olivia Grady ’26

Abby Lee ’25 arrived at ������Ƶ with a strong interest in civic engagement. The ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program gave her the opportunity to continue that work after graduation.

“Living in Alamance County for four years, I just thought it would be really beneficial to give back to the community that gave me so much,” Lee says. “This position sounded exactly like what I wanted to do.”

Lee, who earned a degree in public health studies and political science, works with Impact Alamance’s “healthier” team on a range of grant-funded initiatives that support community wellness.

Her projects have included helping install a new basketball court in Mebane, supporting a mobile recreation unit that brings activities to neighborhoods across the county and assisting with planning Impact Alamance’s annual wellness summit.

“I’ve worked on smaller projects, but it means so much to the people that we help,” Lee says. “That’s probably my favorite part, just seeing how much Impact Alamance truly does.”

Lee says her experiences at ������Ƶ helped prepare her for the work, particularly her public health practicum with the Women’s Resource Center of Alamance County.

“That was my first local internship and really shaped my path, showing how great it was to work for and help the people of Alamance,” Lee says. “I think ultimately that’s what led me to decide and apply.”

She also credits ������Ƶ faculty members with shaping her academic interests and encouraging her to pursue a broader view of public health.

“Yanica Faustin was the reason I decided to double major in public health after taking one of her courses, Reproductive Justice,” Lee says. “She definitely shaped my time at ������Ƶ, as well as Stephanie Baker, who was my senior seminar professor for public health. She really showed me that this is what I wanted to do.”

Now working with Impact Alamance, Lee is able to see firsthand how community partnerships and targeted investments can improve health outcomes across the county.

The fellowship has allowed her to build on the experiences she gained at ������Ƶ while making a direct impact in the community she called home during college.

Juliana Buter ’25

Supporting Local Businesses

By Jordan Armstead ’28

Local government work has quickly become a passion for Juliana Buter ’25.

Through the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program, Buter works with the City of Burlington’s Economic Development Office, supporting initiatives designed to strengthen the local economy and improve quality of life across the community.

In the role, she helps coordinate projects that attract new investment, support existing businesses and promote Burlington as a place where people want to live, work and visit.

“This fellowship has helped me a lot because it taught me about my strengths and areas where I need to grow,” Buter says.

One of her primary responsibilities is serving as a liaison with the Burlington Downtown Corporation, helping coordinate communication between city officials and local businesses and ensuring that information flows smoothly between partners working to strengthen the downtown area.

Originally from Atlanta, Buter chose ������Ƶ because of its small class sizes and opportunities to build relationships with professors. She majored in political science and minored in communications, a combination that has helped her analyze policy decisions while communicating effectively with a wide range of audiences.

During summer 2024, Buter participated in Campus Alamance, a program that connects ������Ƶ students with internships at local businesses, nonprofits and government agencies. She interned with the Alamance Chamber of Commerce, where she gained a broader understanding of the community beyond ������Ƶ’s campus and developed an interest in the region’s economic development efforts.

That experience introduced her to the Year of Service Fellows program and encouraged her to apply.

Buter credits her political science degree with helping her understand how public decisions shape communities and influence the people who live and work within them.

“There is a misconception about political science simply being about politics, parties and government,” Buter says. “I think the science aspect has taught me how people interact with one another and with groups.”

Through her work with the City of Burlington, she has developed a deeper appreciation for local government and the people working behind the scenes to strengthen their communities.

“I have absolutely fallen in love with local government, just watching the behind-the-scenes of people working hard for their community,” she says.

The fellowship has also helped her clarify the type of work she hopes to pursue long term — community-focused roles where she can see the tangible impact of public initiatives and partnerships.

Aniya Scott ’25

Improving Patient Access

By Avery Craine Powell

Aniya Scott ’25 describes her year as an ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellow as a “gap year,” but the experience is bringing her closer to her long-term goal of becoming a physical therapist.

Through the program, Scott works with Alamance Regional Medical Center, where she supports operational initiatives that help the hospital serve patients more effectively.

“Even though I’m not currently working on the clinical side, gaining experience with the hospital’s backend operations has been incredibly valuable,” Scott says. “Understanding how operations work helps me anticipate what patients may go through to access care in the future.”

Her work includes assisting with project management, supporting philanthropy initiatives and helping improve campus signage.

Scott earned a degree in biology from ������Ƶ and says many parts of her ������Ƶ experience prepared her for the community-focused nature of the work.

I’ve learned that much of community work involves engaging with underrepresented populations. This fellowship really allows us to get outside of that ������Ƶ bubble and explore issues affecting Alamance County residents. — Aniya Scott ’25

As an Honors Fellow and Lumen Scholar, she conducted research on PFAS contamination and how to help residents in Pittsboro, North Carolina, better understand and reduce exposure to forever chemicals.

“Residents may not be able to change how they access water or the presence of PFAS in their water, but we can help identify and educate them on day-to-day practices that can reduce their exposure,” Scott says.

Beyond research, Scott served as a statistics learning assistant and worked with the Center for Access and Success while also holding leadership roles with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the National Council of Negro Women.

“Through my experiences, I’ve learned that much of community work involves engaging with underrepresented populations,” Scott says. “This fellowship really allows us to get outside of that ������Ƶ bubble and explore issues affecting Alamance County residents.”

The experience has also given Scott a broader perspective on how health care systems operate and the many factors that shape patient care. Seeing the operational side of the hospital has helped her better understand how decisions behind the scenes affect the experiences patients have every day.

“Before this fellowship, most of my experience in health care was on the clinical side,” she says. “This fellowship opened my eyes to how administrative decisions and operational processes directly impact frontline care.”