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Benjamin Walker recognized for passion to help families
September 23, 2014
Dr. Sara Corwin nominated Benjamin M. Walker for a scholarship in memory of
Michael Daniel Smith and Alexander Tyler Smith. The scholarship presentation was
held at USC’s Institute for Families in Society.
October 1994. The nation was riveted to a story from Union, S.C. A divorced mother of two children reported that she was the victim of a carjacking and that her two children had been taken by the carjackers.
For several days, people throughout the United States watched as a tearful Susan Smith and her divorced husband David Smith pleaded on national television for the safe return of the children.
Then, Susan Smith confessed. With her children still in their car seats, she drove her car into the lake. They were never the victims of a carjacking.
The deaths of Michael Daniel Smith and Alexander Tyler Smith have been remembered through a scholarship awarded to University of South Carolina students who show outstanding promise as a helping professional for children and families. Â Applicants must be recommended by a faculty member in psychology, social work, nursing, or public health. Scholarship funds are applied to the students’ tuition.
Benjamin M. Walker, a public health undergraduate student at the Arnold School, is a recipient of the 2014 Smith Scholarship, awarded by USC’s Institute for Families in Society. The scholarship also was awarded to Amanda Hunsucker, a student in the College of Social Work.
Walker was praised for his passion to help S.C.’s children and families by Dr. Sara Corwin, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Student Services and Director of the Undergraduate Program in Public Health.
“Benjamin has worked tirelessly with several local community organizations that serve our children and their families. He has volunteered his time with Children's Garden, led a drive for Toys for Tots and given his weekends for Habitat for Humanity projects,” said Corwin, who nominated Walker for the scholarship.
“In addition, Benjamin has been involved with outreach to homeless persons in our community,” she said. “Beyond his selfless commitment to volunteer work, I know that Benjamin enjoys working with young people and is motivated, upon graduation, to continue working to help reduce health disparities among families of color.”
Walker, a Resident Mentor in Columbia Hall, has first-hand experience in counseling young adults as they adjust to college life and has been dedicated to improving the quality of the state’s young people, Corwin said.
The decision to pursue a degree in public health has been a good one, said Walker, who grew up in Columbia and graduated from Spring Valley High School.
“I’ve been in love with the Arnold School since I got here,” he said. “I love the faculty and the classes that I am taking. It has been the right decision for me.”
Over the summer, Walker served an internship at the Jeep Rogers Family YMCA at Lake Carolina. During the academic year, he works two jobs while enrolled as a full-time student, Corwin said.
Through it all, “Benjamin Walker is a delightful individual with a calm affect, level head and a positive outlook. He believes in the good in all people and will lift up young people to be the best they can be. Benjamin is a great role model -- always hardworking and keeping his goal of earning his degree in mind,” she said.
