Name: Zach Schafer (AS '08) Hometown: St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Unionville, PA Majors: History, International Relations, Economics Favorite Book:The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
Activities/Clubs at UD: President of Phi Sigma Pi Co-Ed Honor Fraternity, Hillel Student Life, ESL Language-Partner, Under-Graduate Research Assistant for Ken Campbell’s A Tale of Two Quagmires, Honors DelaWorld Orientation Assistant, Blue Hen Ambassador
Goals: Now graduated, I work for the UD Office of Development and Alumni relations; outside my official job, my room-mate, who I met through the Honors Program, and I are trying to start a tech firm. Ultimately I aspire to earn post-graduate degrees in political economy and conservation and work with government, industry, and the public, mediating a healthy relationship between human/development interests and the natural world.
Why did you choose Delaware? Initially, I didn’t even want to apply to Delaware – I thought it was too close to home and I wanted to break out and do my own thing. But my parents made me apply anyway and I had the opportunity to spend the night with a number of Honors students late in my senior year. I remember telling my parents the next day when I got home, “That’s it. I’m going to Delaware.” I fell in love with the school – the gorgeous collegiate-feeling campus, the teaching-focused professors, but most of all the students. I just knew these were the people I wanted to spend the next four years of my life with. They knew how to work hard, play hard, and take excitement and meaning from everything they did.
What has been your favorite Honors class so far? My junior year I had the opportunity to take the Honors sections of Early and Late Modern Intellectual History with Dr. John Bernstein. Each month, Dr. Bernstein would have the Honors students over to his house for an evening to discuss whatever material we happened to be covering in class. To be sure, the extra in-depth discussions, as well as higher expectations, challenged me to work harder and learn more, but the best part was the chance to get to know Dr. Bernstein personally. Through his evening sessions, we discovered we had a common interest in classical music, and he invited me over for pizza and lessons in music history. Two years later, we still get together once a month for pizza, music, and a friendship that grew out of this Honors class.
What has been your most rewarding leadership or extra-curricular activity at UD? My most rewarding extra-curricular activity has been the opportunity to study abroad, both through University programs and through self-planned trips with the University’s support and financial assistance. During my first three years, I had the opportunity to study Spanish and political science in Argentina, to photograph wildlife in Antarctica, and to conduct photography and service work in Vietnam. This wealth of experiences left a lasting impact on me, but also left me wanting more. My senior year, five friends and I planned a trip to Kenya and Tanzania to volunteer at an orphanage and attend the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. The Forum, an international gathering of more than 50,000 delegates, introduced us first-hand to issues such as, globalization, North-South relations, poverty, AIDS, and the environment and climate change – issues we had studied in the classroom, but here we were debating these issues with thousands of policy-makers and citizens from around the world. Professors helped us plan the trip, endorsed us, and even helped fund us with grants from the Political Science department and the Office of Alumni Relations. This, to me, symbolizes what is so special about the University of Delaware, and in particular the Honors Program: if you have a goal, there are people and resources here who will work with you to help you achieve it.
