The Â鶹¹ÙÍø Chapter of the CU Alumni Association has chosen three Â鶹¹ÙÍø High School seniors to receive $2,500 scholarships for the 2002-03 academic year at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
Samuel (Clark) Berngard, Shan Lui and Ethan Van Duzer - all Â鶹¹ÙÍø High School seniors -- are this year's winners. All three scholarship winners will graduate in the top 10 percent of their Â鶹¹ÙÍø High School graduating class of 368, and their grade-point averages were all higher than 3.9.Ìý
Berngard lettered in both football and baseball at Â鶹¹ÙÍø High and umpired four seasons for the North Â鶹¹ÙÍø Little League. He tutored underclassmen as a member of the National Honor Society and helped orient freshmen to BHS as a leader in the Links program. Berngard plans to major in biochemistry.
Berngard wrote in his scholarship application essay, "I've learned to strive to live my life at its fullest and put complete effort into everything I do, so when the time comes, I can look back over the journey of my life and have no regrets."
Lui came to Â鶹¹ÙÍø three years ago from Beijing. As a National Honor Society member she has served as a bilingual tutor and through the Links program Lui helped freshmen adjust to BHS. Lui organized the Asian Culture Show as a member of the Â鶹¹ÙÍø High Asian Culture Club. She plans to major in electrical engineering.
"When I landed in Â鶹¹ÙÍø, I knew my choice to come to the U.S. was irrevocable," Lui wrote in her application essay. "In a country where I needed to reverse the order of my first and last name, heaven and earth changed places. 'The best thing I can do,' I told myself, 'is to learn English with all my power.' "
Van Duzer played Â鶹¹ÙÍø High School basketball for four years, participated in cross country for two years and was named to the Academic All-state first cross country team.
He received the Rotary Leadership Award, represented Â鶹¹ÙÍø High at leadership camp and was one of 50 Â鶹¹ÙÍø juniors chosen by the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Chamber of Commerce to serve on Student Leadership Â鶹¹ÙÍø. Van Duzer's proposed major is in business, with an emphasis in accounting and marketing.
"My experiences provide me with understanding of the need for service in my community, and I want to return the service provided to me," Van Duzer wrote in his essay. "I appreciate life, I appreciate what I have, I appreciate my city and I will appreciate being a CU Buffalo."
The Scholarship Committee considered several criteria in evaluating applicants for the scholarships, available to Â鶹¹ÙÍø area seniors. Among the scholarship criteria are the students' academic achievements, their involvement in school and community activities, the style and content of their essays in response to a given topic and their apparent commitment to attending CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
Committee members were impressed by the high quality of this year's scholarship applicants.