December 20, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) student Skye Geerts will travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to study abroad with a $23,000 scholarship as a Rotary Ambassador.

Geerts, 21, a student in the UAB Honors Program, will graduate in May 2008 with honors in her major, theater, and a minor in philosophy of law. She is the daughter of Suzanne and Michael Geerts of Birmingham (35222).

The Rotary International Ambassadorial scholarship will allow her to pursue a Master of Arts degree in theater and performance at the Queens University of Belfast in Northern Ireland for an academic year. The program focuses on political and site-specific theater.

The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship is meant to foster understanding, cultural exchange and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas, Geerts said. Student ambassadors are expected to speak to Rotary clubs and other organizations about their home country while abroad, and upon returning to the United States, to speak to local Rotary clubs about the events that shaped their understanding of their host country.

Having taken the UAB Honors Program Community Filmmaking Seminar with Michelle Forman, Rosie O’Beirne and Janice Kluge, Geerts is able to offer her skills as a fledgling documentary filmmaker. As an independent project, Geerts will create a documentary film about the Birmingham Rotary Club and their service projects, then create a second documentary about her host Rotary Club while she is abroad in Ireland.

Her interest in studying in Ireland began her freshmen college year. She enrolled in the Gaiety School of Acting summer program and spent a month learning about the works of Beckett, Synge, O’Casey and Freil in classes and lectures, while also attending cultural visits and evening performances.