{"id":11433,"date":"2021-12-01T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/?p=11433"},"modified":"2021-12-02T08:25:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T13:25:24","slug":"3-earlham-students-selected-for-indianapolis-based-orr-fellowship-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/3-earlham-students-selected-for-indianapolis-based-orr-fellowship-program\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Earlham students selected for Indianapolis-based Orr Fellowship Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From left to right, Earlham seniors Tsitsi Makufa, Trevor Marimbire, and Salma Khalaf.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Three Earlham College seniors have been selected as Orr Fellows<\/a> and two of them have accepted salaried positions with high-growth companies in Indianapolis after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsitsi Makufa, Trevor Marimbire and Salma Khalaf, all international students, are the first from Earlham to be selected for the competitive national program. The fellowship attracts 1,200 applicants each year and less than 8 percent earn offers from companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orr Fellows submit personal statements and essays for consideration. Finalists interview with executives from multiple companies in a single day and rank their choices. The Orr Fellowship then works with employers to find finalists who are good matches for the companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs international students, this is a significant opportunity because we don\u2019t have a lot of options to stay in the country after graduation,\u201d said Khalaf, a Palestinian who grew up in Lebanon and is studying international relations at Earlham. Makufa and Marimbire are from Zimbabwe and are pursuing degrees in global management and quantitative economics, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellows also have access to special networking events and stipends that pay for continued learning opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Orr Fellowship is also doing a great job of negotiating a lot of benefits with these companies on our behalf,\u201d Khalaf said. \u201cIf I applied directly to an entry-level position, we would not necessarily have the same opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlhamites are routinely awarded the nation\u2019s most prestigious post-graduate awards, including the Fulbright Award, Watson Fellowship, Rhodes scholarship and the Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview process for the Orr Fellowship challenged the applicants to describe how they were \u201chumble, hungry and people-smart,\u201d Makufa said. \u201cAs international students, studying in the United States is all about demonstrating these things. We all have multiple jobs on campus, and are involved in lots of different things in addition to the work we do in the classroom. I think that helped set us apart from other applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNormally with interviews you have to do all the talking, but they were selling themselves to us, too. I liked that, \u201cshe said. \u201cThey wanted to make sure we liked them and that they knew enough about us to see if we were a match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khalaf is graduating this fall and has accepted a position with Kiwanis International, a global organization of clubs, members and partners focused on improving the lives of children. Marimbire has accepted an offer from KAR Global, a company that provides remarketing solutions in the used vehicle industry. Makufa is pursuing other opportunities after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking at the structure of the fellowship, their aim is to keep people in Indiana,\u201d Khalaf added. \u201cWe are not from Indiana, but we are staying in the state and contributing a lot in that sense and adding to the diversity of the fellowship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mission this fall was to get a job\u2014nothing else mattered to me,\u201d Marimbire added. \u201cThis shows that even though jobs are difficult for international students, there are opportunities out there. It\u2019s all about leveraging resources, and these are in Indiana, in a city just an hour away. I am excited to have a meaningful option after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Orr Fellowship was first awarded in 2001 and was named in honor of former Indiana Gov. Robert Orr.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Media contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brian Zimmerman<\/strong>
Assistant vice president of strategic communications
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Email: zimmebr@earlham.edu
Phone: 765.983.1256<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n