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Ratterman '96 honored as Merrill Presidential Scholar at University of Maryland
Shane Ratterman ’96, a senior studying Chinese at the University of Maryland, was recognized as one of 25 Merrill Presidential Scholars for the 2012-2013 academic year during a ceremony on November 2, 2012. The scholars program honors the University of Maryland’s most successful seniors and their designated University faculty and K-12 teachers for their mentorship. The legacy of academic excellence, teaching, and mentoring continues as scholarships are awarded in the K-12 teacher’s name to a new first year student from that teacher’s high school or school district. The Merrill Presidential Scholars Program builds a community of scholars, faculty members, and K-12 teachers who recognize and celebrate the importance of teaching and mentoring the next generation. Shane selected Brother Charles Filberg, FSC, his German teacher at Calvert Hall, as his Teacher Mentor because it “was always apparent that he wanted each of us to achieve our full potential.”
Shane Ratterman ’96, a senior studying Chinese at the University of Maryland, was recognized as one of 25 Merrill Presidential Scholars for the 2012-2013 academic year during a ceremony on November 2, 2012. The scholars program honors the University of Maryland’s most successful seniors and their designated University faculty and K-12 teachers for their mentorship. The legacy of academic excellence, teaching, and mentoring continues as scholarships are awarded in the K-12 teacher’s name to a new first year student from that teacher’s high school or school district. The Merrill Presidential Scholars Program builds a community of scholars, faculty members, and K-12 teachers who recognize and celebrate the importance of teaching and mentoring the next generation. Shane selected Brother Charles Filberg, FSC, his German teacher at Calvert Hall, as his Teacher Mentor because it “was always apparent that he wanted each of us to achieve our full potential.”
Shane has taken an interesting path to end up where he is today. A former Navy medic and veteran of the war in Iraq, he is attending college for the second time. Twelve years ago, during his first experience in college at Cornell University, he studied abroad in Chang’ an, the historic capital of Qin Dynasty China. But his interests in the language go back farther than that, in fact, to his high school years. As an avid learner of languages, he’s studied German, French, Irish Gaelic and Old Norse (Icelandic), as well as Chinese. Shane attributes his pursuit of language studies to “enjoying the challenge of new languages.” After graduation, he hopes that the combination of his military experience and his knowledge of foreign languages will help him obtain a job in law enforcement.
