Stephen Dorner will be leaving Athens behind to attend one of the best colleges in the world after receiving a prestigious scholarship.

Dorner, a senior from Alpharetta majoring in microbiology and environmental health, was one of nine applicants to receive the George J. Mitchell Postgraduate Scholarship. The scholarship will cover his tuition and room and board at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where he plans to pursue his master’s degree in global health. In addition, he will receive rail and bus passes, tickets to various cultural events and an international travel stipend.

“I was ecstatic and completely overwhelmed,” Dorner said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It’s like winning the lottery.”

Dorner is the only student from a state school to receive the scholarship this year.

When applying for the scholarship, students rank five degree programs of interest offered by any college in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Dorner chose Trinity College because of its strong and diverse global health program.

“The thing about American programs is that they are doing global health in the United States, working with other Americans, and probably even learning from an American,” Dorner said. “At Trinity, the faculty have all lived and worked in developing countries, and 98 percent of the students are from different countries. I’ll be getting an extremely authentic global perspective every day.”

Dorner said he’s interested in looking at environmental regulations in cities around the world and seeing how policies correlate with pollution levels and health statistics. During Dorner’s third term at Trinity, he will conduct independent research in Europe. He will later return to the United States to attend medical school.

“Everyone tells me how you’re going to be in school forever, and it’ll be so long before you get to do what you want to do,” he said. “But it’s really not true. If I look at my resume and look at the experiences I’ve had, I’ve been doing exactly what I wanted to do while pursuing my education.”

After working in health clinics in Central America and writing part of President Obama’s health care bill, Dorner has taken full advantage of the opportunities available to him at the University.

“I’m looking forward to the continuation of those experiences,” Dorner said. “Hopefully, through them, I will constantly be improving the health and the quality of life of people around the world.”

Although Dorner said he is excited about his new experiences in Ireland, he has to leave behind his position as executive director of Volunteer UGA. He’s also leaving UGA Without Borders, an organization he created to focus on issues related to poverty, health care and education.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how everything will change, but it’s kind of sad to step away from all of that because it has been such an integral part of my time at UGA,” Dorner said. “I have complete confidence in the other students, leaders and advisers and in their ability to ensure that these programs are successful.”