Hood College is a co-educational liberal arts college located in Frederick, Maryland. The college serves 2,435 students, 1,487 of whom are undergraduates. Founded in 1893 as the Woman's College of Frederick, Hood transitioned to coeducation beginning in 1971 with the admission of male commuter students. The college became fully coeducational with the admission of male resident students in 2003.

The college was founded in 1893 as the Woman's College of Frederick by the Potomac Synod of the Reformed Church of the United States. Dr. Joseph Henry Apple, an educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was named as the first president. In this first year, eighty-three women enrolled, and were taught by eight faculty members in Winchester Hall located on East Church Street in Frederick. Classes were offered in the liberal arts and music, as well as secretarial trades. In 1898, the first class graduated, with fourteen women earning Bachelor of Arts degrees. Over the next several years, courses in biology, economics, sociology, political science, and domestic science were added.

Nick Harrison is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Karl Burnett from the show's first episode in 1992 to 2005, making him the original character to stay with the show the longest in one stint.

The character was at first introduced as so the show could appeal to single mothers. Jenny and Nick were brought in to fill the role. The character was originally written as one of two heart throbs, alongside Stuart Neilson. Stuart was meant to be an articulate homosexual, while Nick a spunky drug taking rebel.Milan Borich nearly got the role but instead appeared in a guest role in the shows first week.Karl Burnett auditioned for the role at the young age of 16 with the only acting credit of the feature film My Grandpa Is a Vampire. His only other training was school drama classes. Burnett was not what the producers had in mind for the character, but they realized they could make Nick a more comedic and goofy character. Fearing that their only heart throb was gay, Stuart was quickly rewritten to be Catholic instead.

Greg Mortenson, is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace. Mortenson is the author or co-author of the New York Times Bestsellers Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In April 2011, he was accused of using literary license in his non-fiction books and of financial improprieties at his charity, Central Asia Institute.

Greg Mortenson was born to Lutheran missionary parents in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Through the leadership of the Lutheran Church, Mortenson's father, Irvin ("Dempsey"), was a fundraiser for and development director of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania's first teaching hospital. Mortenson's mother, Jerene, was the founding principal of International School Moshi. Mortenson spent his early childhood and adolescence in Tanzania, East Africa, where he learned to speak Swahili fluently. In the early 1970s, when he was 15 years old, Mortenson and his family left Tanzania and moved back to Minnesota. He attended Ramsey High School in Roseville, Minnesota from 1973 to 1975. After high school, Mortenson served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1975 to 1977 as a medic and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Following his discharge, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota from 1977 to 1979 on an athletic (football) scholarship. Mortenson graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and an associate's degree in nursing.