Hometown: Little Rock, Ark.

Cloud Nine
Darrell Scott is among 30 students nationwide accepted into a seven-week summer institute at the University of California Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. The elite, challenging program will provide him with credentials to enroll in the top public policy graduate schools in the country, and probably win a major scholarship.

The Right Direction
He toyed with the idea of pursuing an MBA—in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark., “business is the thing to do.” For three summers he held internships at Bank of America. But the last summer, he realized he was more excited about organizing a canned-food drive at the bank than increasing the efficiency of its voice response system.

Thanks, Mom!
Scott traces this discovery of his true calling to his mother’s work in church and community organizing. “My two siblings and I are now all headed toward careers in social services and public policy.”

Well Prepared
Davidson doesn’t offer courses specifically in public policy, but Scott’s not worried. “I’m as prepared as anyone, because I can think critically. In my math class we modeled an AIDS outbreak. In sociology classes I had to write policy briefs, and in an education class I wrote a theoretical analysis of the widening academic-achievement gap.”

Supportive Teachers
“My department is very supportive, and wrote me recommendations for the program. One professor told me about the Davidson grants that I received to do research one summer on  ‘Intergenerational Black Male Perspectives of Education in Greater Little Rock.’ I interviewed a lot of black male teachers, college students and fathers, and that helped me recognize my interests in education and public policy.”

Davidson Trusted Him
Scott learned about Davidson from an alumnus at a college fair. “He was so passionate about Davidson, I decided to investigate. I visited twice and thought it seemed like a place where I could grow. I mainly wanted to go where I could get the most aid, and no other school could match Davidson’s Belk Scholarship,” a merit scholarship that recognizes expectional accomplishment and promise. “I didn’t know I’d end up having such a good experience!”