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SALISBURY, MD---Two Salisbury University students from Berlin, MD, are among the recipients of this year’s University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents Student Excellence Scholarships.

Julia Carlson, a sophomore urban and regional planning major, earned the award in the Innovation and Creative Activity category. Vicky Vazquez, a senior English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Spanish major, won in the Outreach and Engagement category.

The award is the highest honor bestowed to students by the Board of Regents, recognizing exemplary achievement. Carlson and Vazquez will each receive $2,000 from the USM and USM Foundation to apply toward future tuition.

With an eye toward becoming an architect, Carlson chose SU’s Urban and Regional Planning Program on the advice of a family friend in the field.

“She said, ‘This looks like a really good course, and it’s kind of unique. Maybe you should try it out,’” Carlson said. Meeting with the program’s director, Dr. Amal Ali, solidified her decision.

“I like it a lot so far,” she said.

After completing her SU degree, she hopes to pursue a position in planning or marketing (her minor), both of which she believes will provide her with the flexibility to travel and relocate throughout her career.

Vazquez hopes to use her scholarship to help pay for graduate school while pursuing a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) at the University of Maryland, College Park.

As a student enrolled in an ESOL program herself until middle school, she has a first-hand understanding of the challenges and rewards associated with such initiatives and would like to help future generations the same way her teachers helped her.

Interning in her final SU semester at Ocean City Elementary School, not far from where she grew up, she hopes not only to become a teacher, but to use her skills to better connect Delmarva’s Latino community — particularly in her native Worcester County — with necessary resources.

“It’s very slim for us,” she said. “There aren’t many resources here for our marginalized communities. I’d like to bring my experience from over the [Chesapeake Bay] bridge back here.”

Before that happens, however, Vazquez has one more adventure to look forward to: She has been selected a U.S. Fulbright Student, through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, to teach English for a semester in Thailand.

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at the SU website.