UGA Student Fulfills Dream by Serving Others

When it comes to fulfilling a dream, the SEC’s Natalie Morean knows more about that than most.

Morean, a junior at the University of Georgia, received the 2018 “Fulfilling the Dream Award.” The award is presented to individuals in the Athens-Clarke community who are recognized for acting on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideology and advancing issues of human rights and race relations. Of all the things she’s done, bringing home that award has been “the peak” of her collegiate experience so far.

When she first enrolled at UGA, Morean had plans to pursue a career in medicine, but it didn’t take her long to realize her future had to be family-oriented. The Georgia native is the oldest of four, and naturally, her big family has always been a big part of her life. With that, she chose to change her major to human development and family science.

But outside of her studies, Morean is giving even more. She currently juggles her duties as the president of the National Council of Negro Women, a member of the university’s Black Affairs Council, and a Fellow in the Leaders Engaged in Affirming Diversity program.

Morean also served as a mentor for UGA’s Mentoring Among Peers program and the Athens-Clarke County Mentorship program. And somehow, she’s also found time to be a campus orientation leader and the community services director for the National Council for Negro Women.

While we try to wrap our heads around balancing a schedule like that, you can learn how Morean’s desire to help has stemmed from a simple observation: need. As she puts it, “Students don’t necessarily always recognize that Athens-Clarke County is one of the poorest counties in the entire state of Georgia. It’s really about going outside and seeing past your own privilege and recognizing that there are other people.”

There is no doubt that Morean has recognized needs beyond her own. It’s something she acts on year-round — even when she could be in vacation mode. This summer, she’ll travel to Accra, Ghana, to take part in a four-week service-learning study abroad program. For her, it’s another opportunity to gain more perspective: “You realize that the world is so much bigger than Athens, the world is so much bigger than the state of Georgia, the world is so much bigger than the United States.”

And when she graduates, Morean plans to continue her education and earn an advanced degree in public health. From there, she wants to start a nonprofit organization that combats hunger and malnutrition in low-income communities.

“To know that you’re affecting other people and you’re helping other people so much that somebody else notices makes me grateful. Helping others is such a beautiful thing to do.” And that’s why Morean continues to do what she does. To her, It Just Means More than being recognized. It means recognizing the needs of others and doing more to make sure those needs are met.