On February 6, Mason Honors College alumni Jeffrey Wood and Peter Mambwe led a discussion of the film Beyond the Wall, which tells the story of Jeffrey, Peter, and other District of Columbia Public School high school students who visited China in 2009.
After the screening, Jeffrey was honored by the creation of the Roosevelt High Jeffrey Wood Award for Global Citizenship, which will be given to Theodore Roosevelt High seniors who exemplify global leadership and citizenship.
As a high school student Jeffrey was awarded the prestigious National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship, which promotes the acquisition of languages deemed "critical" by the United States Department of State. While at Mason, Jeffrey double majored in Global Affairs and Chinese, which helped to prepare him to successfully pursue the Boren Scholarship, which is a highly selective award funding study abroad to learn less-commonly studied languages of particular use to individual who seek to work in the national security arena. He also was awarded the prestigious Gilman Scholarship, which helps students of limited financial means to study abroad, especially when doing so supports the development of relevant to national security or economic development.
While he was in China as an undergraduate, Jeffrey appeared on television, where he had the opportunity to interview then-First Lady Michelle Obama. Jeffrey's commitment to global citizenship has led him to testify to members of United States Congress about the importance of studying languages.
After graduating from the Honors College, Jeffrey has gone on to a career in the Foreign Service of the State Department. His first posting is in Bangladesh.
Peter Mambwe is also a Global Affairs major currently purusing a degree in the Honors College. Peter works as an IT support technician and is involved with Washington Premier League soccer. While at Mason, Peter has been an active participant in the Honors College Multicultural Alliance, among other student organizations.