On the road to Morocco

Kelly Combs, 21, will board a plane next week with only one suitcase and a backpack in hand. He’ll be headed for the African country of Morocco as a recipient of the $25,000 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship.

At the Wednesday meeting of the Rotary Club, Combs walked to the front of the room to accept a proclamation from Mayor Larry Melton, declaring the day to be "Kelly Combs, Rotary Ambassador Scholar Day."

His parents, Dean and Dianne Combs, beamed proudly as Melton read the proclamation.

"We’re very pleased and very happy to see him get this opportunity. We really appreciate the Rotary Club for doing this," Dean Combs said.

The younger Combs flushed with embarrassment as members of the Odessa Rotary Club cheered him, but his smile filled half of his face. It’s taken a long time to get to this point.

Two years ago, Combs came across a flier posted at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, advertising the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship Program. The program, founded in 1947, was designed to further international understanding between people from different cultures.

Combs, who graduated from UTPB with degrees in political science and leadership, had already missed the application deadline for the year, but he started working right then to apply for the following year, he said. He contacted Rotary Club member R.C. Paulette about the program, and, after meeting, Paulette agreed to sponsor the younger Combs for the program.

"It enables us to go out as ambassadors to teach people about our country, our state and our city, and to learn about their culture at the same time," Paulette said. Combs is the first person from Odessa to win the scholarship, Paulette said.

Applicants design their own programs. The only requirements are that they go to a different country to study and that they act as ambassadors of Rotary while living abroad. When applying, they get to choose places they would want to go and study.

After a lot of research, Combs chose schools in three places including Turkey and Ghana, with Morocco topping the list.

"It’s just a really old culture, and it’s been around forever. They speak Arabic there. It just seemed really interesting," he said, his eyes lighting up. It’s a long way from his schooling at Permian, Bowie and Reagan Elementary in Odessa.

After arriving in Morocco, Combs will spend the first month in Rabat, the capital city, learning French. Then he’ll attend Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, a small town in the mountains of Morocco, working toward a master’s degree in international diplomacy.

The scholarship requires Combs to do community service projects and to hold presentations about where he comes from for the people of Morocco. He said he’s excited to get the chance to see a new place and to represent West Texas to the rest of the world.

"I’m going to get to see a new place in the world and learn about a new culture and new experiences totally different from the life I’ve led. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I can’t believe it’s happening to me," Combs said.