The Boulder Chapter of the CU Alumni Association has chosen three Boulder High School seniors to receive $2,500 scholarships for the 2002-03 academic year at CU-Boulder.
Samuel (Clark) Berngard, Shan Lui and Ethan Van Duzer - all Boulder High School seniors -- are this year's winners. All three scholarship winners will graduate in the top 10 percent of their Boulder 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 Boulder High and umpired four seasons for the North Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder High Asian Culture Club. She plans to major in electrical engineering.
"When I landed in Boulder, 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 Boulder 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 Boulder High at leadership camp and was one of 50 Boulder juniors chosen by the Boulder Chamber of Commerce to serve on Student Leadership Boulder. 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 Boulder 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-Boulder.
Committee members were impressed by the high quality of this year's scholarship applicants.