High Desert Hero scholar. Bend High School Project Interact president. William K. Worrell scholar. Sunflower Initiative scholar. Seeds of Peace program participant.

Marley Forest says she doesn’t know why she always gets chosen. Maybe it’s luck. Maybe it’s talent, or dedication.

Or maybe it’s because the Bend High senior has a much clearer vision of where she’s going than most students her age.

“I get very passionate about people — I care a lot, and I’ll continue to do whatever I can to help them,” said Marley, 18. “I just always felt like it’s my calling.”

Marley, who was featured in The Bulletin in September 2012 after she returned from a service learning trip to Myanmar, is on her way to big things. This past summer, Marley participated in a small, competitive program called Seeds of Peace. The international camp held in Maine each summer brings together students from some of the most war-torn areas of the world with a handful of American students. The program is geared toward cultural understanding among future leaders, and Marley said the three weeks she spent at the camp was nothing short of life-changing.

“I think the main thing I gained was coming to the realization that a teenager from Southeast Asia or the Middle East is no different than any of my friends back home,” Marley said. “As humans, it’s easy to look at the world as it’s us versus them, but once you break down those barriers, you realize the human connection that we all have.”

Marley was the only student from Oregon to attend the camp, and was sponsored by the Mt. Bachelor Rotary Club. The program involved open discussion and team-building exercises meant to educate students on conflicts and peace initiatives. Marley comes from a Jewish background, and said her heritage is part of the reason she’s so interested in the Middle East.

“She already came to the program with this very open, kind and loving heart,” said Samantha Lin, a Seeds of Peace counselor. “It was amazing to see how much she grew in those three weeks and how much her empathy for other people deepened.”

“So many of these conflicts you just hear about and take at surface level,” Marley said. “During the camp, I realized you have to stop doing that and dig deeper to get to the real issues.”

Marley said the most memorable part about the camp was the last day, when all 240 students jumped into a nearby lake.

“At one point we were all hugging — just this giant mass of people in a big mud puddle in the lake,” Marley said. “People were crying and saying ‘I love you.’ It was incredible.”

Marley was set to go to the Middle East this summer, where she was going to continue her studies through the same program, but the trip was recently canceled. Marley said she was disappointed — but she’s not letting it stop her from visiting the region. She’s planning a trip for next summer.

This fall, Marley is headed to Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she plans to study international peace and conflict. Marley recently garnered several scholarships to help fund her education, including $5,000 from the William K. Worrell scholarship fund. The scholarship, awarded through The Center Foundation, is highly competitive. Local students who win the monthly High Desert Hero honor for their good grades and community service work are the only ones asked to apply for the scholarship.

“Students are asked to do a presentation in front of a panel where they answer what they think the single most important problem is facing the world, and how to fix it,” said Carol Stiles, executive director of The Center Foundation. “In past years, it’s taken hours to make a decision. And while all the kids were amazing this year, for some reason, everyone agreed it was Marley hands down.”

Marley also received $10,000 after winning The Sunflower Initiative’s Harriet Fitzgerald Scholarship, which is awarded to one student attending an all-women’s school. Marley was the only one in the country to receive the scholarship.

Marley still doesn’t know why she gets recognized by scholarship committees and admission boards. All she knows is what she wants to do one day: help bring peace to areas of the world plagued with conflict.

“I think it is possible to break down barriers, despite all these horrible things that have happened,” Marley said. “On my deathbed, I’d like to know that I’ve at least helped one person in my life.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0354, mkehoe@bendbulletin.com.