Newsmaker: Joanna McKee

Age: 22

Residence: Oakland

Family: Parents, Bob and Mauri; two sisters and a brother

Occupation: Registered nurse at UPMC Presbyterian, Oakland. She eventually wants to open a bilingual clinic as a nurse practitioner to serve the medical needs of poor and uninsured patients.

Education: MccKee plans to graduate in April with bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh.

Background: Has worked in AIDS clinics and taught HIV transmission prevention to high school students in Botswana, Africa, and has volunteered in an orphanage in India; has volunteered at a nursing home in Guadalajara, Mexico, and completed an internship at a rural hospital in Patzcuaro, Mexico; volunteered at an inner-city daycare in Chicago and has helped raise money for Rescue Childhood to build an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

Noteworthy: Recipient of the 2007 Emma W. Lock Award, given annually to a Pitt senior in recognition of high scholarship, character and devotion to ideals of the university. McKee has a 3.97 GPA and plans to attend graduate school for nursing and possibly public health.

Quote: "It teaches you a lot about life and how life should be lived, and what to appreciate in each day," McKee said of her volunteer experiences.

-- Jason Cato