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A red, green and yellow-striped flag proudly hangs in the center of the wall, and alongside are photographs of family members, old friends and new. As a student from Ethiopia, Kaleb Woldeamanuel a senior at RU, has made a big impression campus-wide. Just scanning his apartment in Muse, you can see just a sample of the awards he has won over the four years including Outstanding Student of the Year.
Growing up in Ethiopia as a small child, Woldeamanuel has always been exposed to the United Nations; his stepfather is the now the Director for World Food Program Production in Sudan. Since then, Woldeamanuel has been interested in Chemistry and has wanted to pursue things further in crop technology.
The decision to come from St Joseph's School, which is situated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was made so he could follow in his sister Yodite's footsteps (Yodite also attended RU). As a Chemistry major, Woldeamanuel knew he would receive the one-on-one attention from professors that he would need. "I knew that Radford was able to provide that interaction by having small class rooms where a professor knows their students by their name and not by their ID number," said Woldeamanuel.
Before coming to America, Woldeamanuel had studied just one year of English, so a lot of it has been picked up since his arrival to RU. Sometimes Woldeamanuel admits: "it was hard to understand some things but Professors are willing to extend their office hours to help me overcome the language barrier."
It all started for Woldeamanuel when he became a Quest Assistant in the summer of 2003, and he got to experience a real Radford. "I made a lot of friends and the incoming freshman from that summer still know me now," Woldeamanuel said.
He further grew as a member of the Radford community by becoming a Resident Assistant. "In the beginning I was so shy, and circumstances would arise that would intimidate me, but I had a strong and supportive staff that got me through it all." And with that, Woldeamanuel is now the Assistant Resident Director in Muse.
Programs that he created in the resident halls have won multiple awards that showed the residents a part of his culture. "I showed them some tribal dances from Ethiopia, and cooked some Ethiopian food and the residents loved it, I think because it was something completely different," he said.
Ethiopian culture will always play a big part in Woldeamanuel's life. Since attending RU, he has been influential in exposing Radford's campus to Ethiopian culture and has served as the president as well as the advisor of the Ethiopian Cultural Society. The list of organizations that he is involved in seems endless. It includes International Student Affairs Council of Student Government, National Resident Hall Honorary, Omicron Delta Kappa and the Chemistry Club.
With a major in Chemistry and minor in Mathematics, we can expect huge things from Kaleb Woldeamanuel. His goals include attending graduate school and completing a research degree in Chemistry, after which he would follow his stepfather in working with the UN. He is interested in conducting research for the Food Program, which will include testing soils, working with variants of production methods and transporting the crops to countries in need of them. Woldeamanuel's dedication and inspiring work ethic continue to improve with the years at RU; who knows what he is possible for him to achieve in the future? "I just hope that I am happy with what I am doing, and hopefully creating something positive for others with my work."
Stephanie is British and that makes her hot.
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