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SARAH CRISER CLASS V FELLOW "It's called a fellowship, but in reality, it's life. Responsibility, thoughtfulness and drive are factored into every decision we make - all with the understanding that we are impacting lives beyond our own. There is no such thing as relative integrity."

FELLOW SPOTLIGHT: IAN DANKELMAN, CLASS V

Ian Dankelman won't be the last Florida Fellow to bring home the bacon. But he'll almost certainly be the only one to actually make it.

We're not talking about money here. We're talking about actual bacon.

In his job at a Jacksonville bacon factory, Ian has participated in every step of the process of making this tasty cured meat. While the Fellows program places a premium on attracting applicants with unique experiences, Ian's is more unique than most.

This wasn't simply a one-time summer job in high school. Ian worked at Henry's Hickory House in his hometown on-and-off for the past three years, commuting back and forth while attending Florida State University. He only stopped working at the factory one week before starting his Fellowship.

Long story short: Even as FSU was selecting Ian as a regional semifinalist for the Rhodes Scholarship (the school did recently boast a Rhodes Scholar, Myron Rolle), Ian was off dealing with pork bellies of a far different sort than his finance-focused peers.

We'll come back to the bacon later, because there's much more to this Class V Fellow, one of only two underclassmen in this year's class. Spending time with Ian, you learn to appreciate not only his focus on hard work and achievement, but a deep passion for public service that informs everything he does.

Ian's family moved to Jacksonville when he was young. He was born in Waco, Texas, a first-generation American whose father was born in the Netherlands and emigrated to the United States in the early 1970s. Ian's grandfather was a lawyer in the Netherlands, which served as some inspiration for Ian's plans to attend law school.

He will graduate from FSU this year with a double major in political science and history.

"When I found out about the fellows program, I knew it was definitely something that I wanted to do," Ian said. "I'm pretty passionate about what really happens in government, how policy is made. I've always been interested in how government functions, how it affects the lives of every resident in Florida."

Serving the public became a passion for Ian after he participated in the American Legion Boys State while in high school. The service, which also has a sister program in the American Legion Auxiliary (Girls State), provides incoming high school seniors a week of education about "the duties and responsibilities of a franchised citizen." Participants attend legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations and various other events related to public service. Considering how impactful the week was to Ian, it's no surprise he went on to becoming a Florida Fellow.

"It was a career-changing experience, and it wouldn't be too much to call it a life-changing experience," said Ian, who has continued to be involved with the Boys State program for the past five years.

"It was eye-opening. It was the first time I'd ever even met any state official, and I even got to shake hands, for like a second, with Governor (Jeb) Bush. We met everyone from partner lawyers to state troopers to undersecretaries of state agencies."

He continued: "It was just a vast spectrum of people who devoted their entire professional lives to the state of Florida, to their communities, even to the national level. I just thought it was the most fascinating thing, and it felt like something I could do."

Now, even as he's back in the role of student, meeting top state and national officials as a Florida Fellow, Ian continues to relish his mentoring role with the American Legion Boys State.

"I'm a counselor for a subsection of kids, called a city, and I get to mentor 30 to 35 "rising seniors" from around the state," he said. "It's such a wonderful program. To see that other generation excel every year is kind of inspiring."

Ian, of course, is still pretty young himself (22, as of this writing), making several years younger on average than his Florida Fellow peers. His career will "definitely be in public service," he said, "but I'm not really sure what form yet."

"This has been one of the most enlightening experiences of my life," he said. "I don't have the professional work experience that the others did. I'm gaining an understanding of the hard work and dedication that Florida's public servants put in every day. I've gained a new appreciation for that. I never knew how much hard work went into it."

While Ian's been learning the professional work experience on the fly - his Fellows placement is with the state Division of Emergency Management - his bacon factory experience actually meshed quite nicely with his professional goals.

"I knew I brought something to the table probably no one else did," he said. "When I wrote my policy proposal (for the Fellows program application), I wrote how we could expand the meat processing industry."

He continued: "People take animal agriculture for granted. It contributes over $100-billion per year to the national economy. If Florida could get even 5 percent of the market share, it could really be a foundation for the economy here. During a time when people are hurting so bad, you can't take anything for granted. Sometimes you have to go back to your basics to get people back to work."

An office job with the Division of Emergency Management couldn't be much different from working on the "pork belly injection line" (not one to put on airs, that's exactly how Ian puts it on his resume). But he's adapted just as readily to this experience.

"I thought it was fascinating to be a part of really helping Floridians in their time of need," said Ian, whose role has focused on communications matters such as the 2009 Annual Report and the Gubernatorial Transition Document, which will help the next Governor get up to speed on the Division's organization and issues. However, Ian also got to help out with Haitian relief efforts in the state's Emergency Operations Center.

From his Fellows experience to date, Ian noted the influence of Don Winstead, who is Gov. Charlie Crist's stimulus adviser and has been a top official at the Florida Department of Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"He's devoted a career in public service to the important things that are often overlooked," Ian said of Winstead. "He's trying to give a powerful voice to people whose voices get lost in the fray."

Ian's not the kind of guy who gives lip service to public service - he lives it. He led a group of FSU students in building homes in summer 2008 in Juarez, Mexico: "It's just a dent in a much larger problem. But tell that to the two families who got new homes." He was a summer camp counselor at a camp for underprivileged children with incarcerated parents. And he continues to be active in community service through the Episcopal Church and the Boys State.

Ian noted how grateful he is to the Fellows Program "for taking the chance on me to be a Fellow."

"I get to learn from the good men and women who keep this state running," he said. "They're the people who work hard every single day to make sure a community has a grant to be safe if a hurricane comes through. They're making sure the a call center is running if an abuse call comes in, or that a new road comes through a city, which could mean fantastic growth economically. Until you see it, you don't understand how important it is."

In addition to law school, Ian is considering studying for a master's degree in applied politics. That's a long way from using a shovel to scoop up excess pig fat - yes, an actual duty Ian used to perform. But you'll never catch the tiniest suggestion Ian thinks he's too good for such things.

To the contrary, he goes on several times about how much he appreciated the bacon factory job, how generous the owners were to bring him on and let him keep coming back: "I can't tell you how much I appreciate what they did for me."

Here's the big question: Ian's no vegan, obviously. But after working for several years at a bacon factory, can he still eat the stuff? "Actually, my first summer there, one of my sub-jobs was to make sure the bacon tasted good," he said. "I did quality control on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So I ate quite a bit."

And now?

"Oh yeah, I really do like bacon," Ian chuckled. "I eat it all the time."

Click here to view the previous featured Fellow.