Ailah Altemus spent last summer on a fire crew helping fight wildland forest fires, including the Cedar Creek Fire that threatened her hometown, Oakridge. After seeing her hometown in danger, she decided to focus her studies on reversing the effects of climate change.

It was during the height of the pandemic and a few months prior to making a decision about where to apply for college when my mom sat me and my brothers down in the living room. She had gone in for surgery twice before and had a biopsy. So, we were all kind of expecting the news.

As a child, Danny Nguyen remembers having to translate everything for his non-English speaking parents – Vietnamese immigrants who came to the United States in their 20s. He taught himself English by watching TV shows and reading. And he had to navigate his own way through his education.

Becoming a lawyer has been the ultimate dream for Kali de Saint Phalle. Since she was six years old, the UO Clark Honors College student from Ashland, Ore., has imagined herself working in the legal arena helping others. As a political science major, she is well on her way.

Stamps Scholars hail from across Oregon and the United States. They are academic powerhouses whose work in high school and beyond helped earn them UO’s most prestigious and generous undergraduate scholarship. We introduce you to the nine scholars who just started their first year of college at the Clark Honors College.