**Yasmine Mavrakis**
_Pre-dietician aiding post-revolution Libya_

You’ll be forgiven if, upon meeting Yasmine Mavrakis, you don’t immediately think “freedom fighter” or, well, any type of fighter.

The petite Texan exudes Southwestern charm and Midwestern politeness. But make no mistake; she’s attended protests, rallies and other events to aid Libyan revolutionaries during the Arab Spring.

Mavrakis comes to MU from Plano, Texas. Her father and uncle, however, hail from Libya, a country undergoing many changes after overthrowing dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Mavrakis, who was a junior in high school during the Arab Spring, sought to educate those around her on the struggle in the faraway country and also to help rebels materially, with money for medical supplies and other resources.

While at anti-Gaddafi protests, Mavrakis often had slurs and crude gestures directed toward her from onlookers who misunderstood her cause, thinking she supported Gaddafi.

“A lot of people were confused about the situation,” she says.

But that didn’t deter Mavrakis, who continues to educate those around her about Libya and its still-evolving political climate.

When she’s not busy helping support democracy in the Middle East, Mavrakis is a member of United Ambassadors, a minority recruitment team, and MU’s Nutrition and Wellness Association. Oh, and in her spare time, she’s a pre-dietetics major and member of the Honors College.

**Annelle Whitt**
_A bit of New York in Columbia_

Though she’s lived in Columbia for 14 years, Annelle Whitt, a New York City native, is still adapting to Midwestern mannerisms.

“I’ve still got New York in me,” Whitt says. “I talk really fast, and I like things to be done yesterday.”

Conversations, Whitt finds, don’t dance to the same rhythm in the Midwest.

“You can’t start a conversation with business here,” Whitt says. “You have to nurture relationships, ask how the kids’ game went. You can’t dive right into conversation.”

As she’s grown into Midwestern manners, Whitt has also come to appreciate Columbia’s growth.

“The city has grown a lot in recent years,” she said. “It’s pretty progressive because of the hospitals, and it’s a university city, but it still has some of that small town feel with small town mentalities.”

Whitt, a coordinator of the Minority Achievement Committee Scholars for Columbia Public Schools, is helping Columbia sustain continued progress.

“I get to do something that doesn’t feel like work,” she says, having worked in the corporate world for 27 years.

As Whitt says, she has been shaped and is shaping Columbia, but she still has her “New York moments.”