On December 3, 2022 sixteen Honors Program (HP) students volunteered at Atlanta's Historic Oakland Cemetery during an event organized by the HP Community Outreach Committee of the Honors Leadership Council.  Students were given a tour of the historic cemetery, founded in 1850, and then tackled a variety of beautification projects across the cemetery.  HP volunteers planted hundreds of flower bulbs across the burial plots throughout the cemetery, which will blanket the space with color when they bloom in the spring.  The gardening was cut short by Mother Nature, but students were still able to enjoy the Victorian holiday gift market where local artisans sold handcrafted goods, explore the cemetery, and listen to some Christmas caroling.  

Fourth year neurosciences major Sarah Sorme reflected on the trip by saying that, “this is my fourth year living in Atlanta but my first time visiting the Oakland Cemetery - I wish I had gone sooner!  It's a gorgeous place with so much history.  I enjoyed planting flowers to help beautify the place even more while hanging out with old and new HP friends.  I'd love to return when the flowers are in bloom, and I definitely want to do the full guided tour!"  Fourth year biomedical engineering major Jillian Foltz said, "I had so much fun volunteering in the surroundings of the beautiful cemetery.  It was great meeting other Honors students and getting to know them throughout the day. Hopefully we get to do more events with Oakland!"

Thanks to all the fantastic Honors Program students who donated their time and energy to making historic Oakland Cemetery a more beautiful Atlanta landmark.  The Community Outreach Committee of the Honors Leadership Council plans service events like this for HP students throughout the year so that the Honors Program can give back to the Atlanta community that it calls home.