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With a personal mission of “helping people by helping their animals,” there’s no doubt Marissa Cobuzio ’19 is committed to improving lives. As a veterinarian in the U.S. Army, she’s pursuing her passions centered on raising and training working dogs who serve soldiers or individuals with disabilities. It’s a noble pursuit that she fostered at Rollins as a member of Rollins’ Bonner Leaders program—a four-year, cohort-based community service initiative that pairs students with local nonprofits.

Before graduating from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2023 and joining the U.S. Army as a Veterinary Corps Officer, she was a biology and sociology double major at Rollins—a people person with dreams of becoming a veterinarian. Cobuzio spent a year and a half raising a service dog named Ari for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). She also worked with the nonprofit to get Rollins approved as a service-dog-raising campus and developed alongside campus administration the infrastructure needed to continue the program for future Rollins students.

Cobuzio describes a pivotal moment when she attended a Canine Companions Tails and Tales Gala, learning about the organization, meeting a Rollins alum, and immediately becoming passionate about the mission.

“Through my proposals to the administration at Rollins on how this would be an opportunity for disability advocacy and to educate others about working dogs on campus,” says Cobuzio, “I learned so much more about these topics and about how to advocate for things I’m passionate about, especially when they provide the opportunity to help others.”

Ultimately, this led to a shift in her career goals that has brought her where she is today—an Army veterinarian for military working dogs that put their lives on the line every day to serve the people of the United States.

“I think above all else, the Bonner program taught me to be a critical and intersectional human throughout all my work regardless of the field,” she says. “My mindset about making sure my actions are impactful in a positive way has been shaped greatly by my time as a Bonner and at Rollins.”

The Scoop

Fresh off its 10th anniversary at Rollins, the Bonner Leader Program is a national initiative that provides service-learning, leadership, and social justice opportunities to students who seek to alleviate social issues and find ways to work for change throughout their careers.

Developed by the Bonner Foundation, a national philanthropic charity based in Princeton, New Jersey, with the mission to “transform students, communities, and campuses through service,” the program has expanded to a nationwide network of over 70 colleges and universities.

The four-year program chooses eight to 12 first-year students—typically with previous community service experience—to form a Bonner Leader cohort before the start of each fall semester. Each member receives a $3,000 yearly scholarship from Rollins, and those selected as Bonner Leaders work eight to 10 volunteer hours a week assisting over 30 community nonprofit organizations in the greater Orlando area.

Students participate in training and enrichment related to community engagement and leading positive change throughout their time at Rollins, including the annual fall retreat before the start of the school year, which helps students forge relationships with each other before classes even begin.

From focusing on accessible health care at Grace Medical Home and supporting families in need at the Ronald McDonald House to applying the lessons of history to today at the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, students undertake a variety of community-based learning and service and are empowered to address some of the greatest challenges of our time.

“These are highly motivated students looking to make an impact in our world,” says Meredith Hein, director of the Center for Leadership & Community Engagement. “Being a Bonner Leader fits right into the liberal arts ethos, with experiences outside the classroom that enhance learning. The goal of both the Bonner Leaders Program and service learning is to give students some of the tools to face problems, work with a team, resolve conflict, and become an active participating member of a community. These are practical experiences preparing students for when they leave Rollins.”

What I’m Learning

Art history major Sophie Foster ’24 has learned how to be a leader, gaining confidence through sustainably growing and supporting the Rollins community as president of the Tars Pantry. The pantry—which is facilitated by the Student Support Foundation—expanded this past February to provide free access to everything from perishable and non-perishable food to hygiene products, business attire, and school essentials.

“I gained confidence in my voice by leading meetings and pitching new ideas,” shares Foster. “I learned how to network with other departments and student organizations to strengthen our pantry. Doing service with a unified group of like-minded people makes you more motivated and optimistic, and it brings together perspectives that create sustainable and impactful solutions to problems.”

Foster aims to pursue a graduate degree in contemporary art and curation while more deeply investigating the overlap between the contemporary art world and service initiatives.

Biology major and ethics minor Lillian Groves ’25 explains how the program reinforces the values of service learning and advocacy, bolstering her own passion surrounding access to health care and water resources and her goal of pursuing a career in the medical field.

In addition to volunteering at AdventHealth with recreational therapists in stroke recovery, Groves has participated in two impactful experiences during her Summer of Service, which all Bonner Leaders are required to complete between their first and third year. Groves first joined chemistry professor Pedro Bernal’s long-standing field study in the Dominican Republic, testing water samples, assembling water filters, and distributing them throughout communities around Santiago.

Back in her hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Groves worked alongside a hydrology professor at Western Kentucky University to test water samples and design filtration systems to provide rural Amish communities with clean water.

“I was able to apply what I was learning at Rollins to serve disadvantaged communities,” shares Groves. “Bridging the gap between education and application allowed me to understand the impact of service learning. One of my key takeaways from the Bonner Leaders Program is that passion fuels action. I believe that being a Bonner Leader has shaped my path by instilling a servant-minded leadership and learning style.”

Indelible Impact

Before Sam Sadeh ’18 was working as a learning designer at Columbia University, where he’s merging technology and education to creative positive change, he was discovering his passions for computer science and service at Rollins. As a Bonner Leader, the computer science and social entrepreneurship double major founded an after-school coding program for fourth-graders at a pair of Title I schools in Orlando. The program earned a highly competitive grant through Google’s igniteCS initiative, which helps college students make a difference in their communities through computer science mentorship and funds only about a dozen projects each year nationwide.

“The Bonner Leader Program introduced me to social justice concepts and frameworks that helped with how I navigate the world,” says Sadeh, who received a master’s of education from Harvard after graduating from Rollins. “I work in the edtech space now, and being a Bonner helped me cultivate my passion for education. I volunteered for four years within the Orange County Public School System in a variety of different roles that all helped me see firsthand how transformative a personalized and comprehensive educational experience can be. The same holds true for the people I met through Bonner Leaders who helped me grow and develop my passion for building community and serving others.”

A double major in anthropology and religious studies, Jacqueline Bengtson ’22 specifically chose Rollins because of the Bonner Leaders Program and credits her time in the cohort for giving her insight into what it really takes to make a difference in the greater community.

“From partnering with local organizations and working together with my Bonner peers to enact positive change on campus, the Bonner Leaders Program taught me the power of collaboration and cooperation in the pursuit of social justice and advocacy,” says Bengtson.

Fluent in Arabic, Sanskrit, and Nepali, Bengtson recently completed two prestigious scholarship programs, studying Urdu in India on a Critical Language Scholarship and teaching English in Nepal as part of a Fulbright Scholarship.

“The Bonner Leaders Program supported my ability to foster community and cross-cultural understanding among my students, their families, and community members while on my Fulbright assignment,” shares Bengtson, who now works as a family support specialist for Refugees Northwest, supporting unaccompanied refugee minors in the greater Seattle area.

“As a Bonner, I grew in my ability to compassionately listen, continuing to unlearn biases and constantly ask how I can help,” she says. “Such skills are imperative when working with vulnerable populations. Most importantly, I wasn’t just a Bonner Leader during my undergraduate degree; I will uphold the values of the Bonner Leaders Program throughout my life, whatever community I am in, and I will continue to find service opportunities to give back.”

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