Grandma's Energy Fuels C-Ring Winner

The winner of this year’s C-Ring Award at the University of Cincinnati is a 23-year-old student who attributes her energy to her ethnically German, Romanian-born maternal grandmother -- if not genetically, than by inspiration.

UC’s outstanding female senior for 2003 is Regina Schneider, a

Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS Scholar

in the

College of Business Administration

. As an Honors-PLUS student graduating magna cum laude, Regina completed her studies with a 3.77 GPA (out of 4) and a full-tuition scholarship that the program provides to each of its scholars. The marketing and international business major has been named CBA’s Outstanding Student in International Business this year. She also is receiving a global studies certificate in the University Honors Scholars Program. On top of her studies, Schneider has co-oped and kept up a rigorous pace of service to UC and the community. Her drive, she says, comes at least in part from her Oma, her grandma.

“My grandmother is without a doubt the most incredible person I have ever known. When she was my age, she was a prisoner of war in a Russian concentration camp – this amazes on so many levels,” says the 23-year-old Regina, a 1998 graduate of Seton High School. “I honestly think of this fact on if not a daily, a weekly basis, and it gives me unbelievable perspective. I believe it is her example that inspires me not to waste my life.” She also says that her biology-major brother, Ross, also a UC student, suggests that her vigor might be traceable to her mitrochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, which women have the ability to pass along genetically.

Another brother, Roric, a finance major and twin to Ross, also thinks there is a link between Regina’s “hard-working and strong-willed personality” and his maternal grandmother – a woman who nearly died as an infant from Scarlet Fever, survived a Russian camp during World War II and died during a battle with breast cancer. He wrote, “Even though my sister and I have our sibling rivalries, I love her and secretly admire her for the wonderfully dynamic woman that she is.”

Adds Jeri Ricketts, Lindner Honors-PLUS program director: “Having known Regina for five years now, I can attest to her enthusiasm, work ethic, competence, compassion, honesty and willingness to go the extra mile.”

With the Lindner Honors-PLUS program, Regina co-oped at Milacron Inc. and in brand management at Andrew Jergens Company and Procter & Gamble, which has offered her a full-time position to begin in December.

“Regina has always earned accolades from her co-op and internship employers as a bright, self-motivated, articulate student and worker,” says Ricketts.

When Regina participated in leadership training with Lindner Honors-PLUS at the Chamber of Commerce, she decided to devote some of the skills she honed to philanthropic endeavors. She went on to complete the Volunteer Leadership Development Program of United Way and Community Chest, becoming only the third student to graduate from that program in its history, according to Ricketts.

Regina remains an active volunteer with many organizations, including the Cincinnati Preservation Association and the Playhouse in the Park. She also has served with UC’s Student Government in the student access office, as a member of CBA Tribunal, a student representative on two university committees, as a Student Ambassador for the University-wide Honors Scholars Program, and as a member of the Orientation Board.

Moved to do even more by a women’s heath summit she attended, Regina is launching a non-profit organization that sells specially-designed tank tops to increase awareness of sexual assault and violence. The “Every 45 Seconds” shirts, designed by UC student Jaleen Francois, have made several hundred dollars so far, but Schneider hopes to raise thousands more to expand training programs for sexual assault advocates at Women Helping Women Inc., Cincinnati.  She is forming the Do Something Now organization with the help of UC student Bethanie Butcher. The project continues to sell its shirts through a Web site at www.dosomethingnow.com.

“It’s still a work in progress,” says Regina. “Slowly we will get it to take off.”
 
Regina’s own drive to “do something now” doesn’t stop there. She recently raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by running in the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. This required five to 10 hours of training a week for 18 weeks. She met her goal of finishing the 26.2 mile-race in under five hours.

She even transformed a part-time job as a hostess into a mission, according to her brother. Regina is helping to create a scholarship program at Nicholson’s Pub, because she saw a need among co-workers for additional assistance with their educational expenses, as well as another opportunity for Nicholson’s to reward their employees. Regina also helped Nicholson’s to create their new marketing campaign.

Even with all of these activities, Regina has found time to study abroad. Already fairly fluent in German because of her ancestry, she spent a quarter studying at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, in 2000. The following year, she joined her Lindner Honors-PLUS classmates in the Class of 2003 for a required international practicum and traveled for several weeks, learning about European businesses in Tampere and Helsinki (Finland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Louvain-La-Neuve and Brussels (Belgium) and Paris (France). During spring break 2003, Regina  participated in a study trip to Belize with the University Honors Scholars Program, visiting Mayan ruins and scuba diving.

Regina plans to continue her travels for a few months after Commencement. At least part of her sojourn will return her to Germany, where she hopes to hone her German language skills and reconnect with relatives. At the end of 2003, she will begin her career as an assistant brand manager in the feminine care business of Procter & Gamble. At P&G, and in any position she has in the future, she hopes to mix her professional life with community service.

As Regina prepares for Commencement, it is somewhat ironic that the woman who is now UC’s outstanding senior woman almost never came to UC. She had applied to Xavier and considered Loyola, John Carroll and Marquette. The Lindner Honors-PLUS scholarship program attracted the Cincinnati native to UC instead.

“I think coming to UC was one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made. I attribute the incredible experiences I’ve had over the past five years largely to my participation in the Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS Program.  Honors-PLUS has presented me with many unique opportunities that have enabled me to excel in a variety of arenas while at UC and will undoubtedly continue to benefit me as I begin my career. All in all, it’s been a phenomenal experience.”