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Yamada's quote
Sep. 16th, 2004 04:04 pmDaniel Tu, Truman Scholar.
It has a nice ring to it.
Yesterday, I talked to Nona Charleston, the director of nationally competitive scholarships. I had been planning to try my hand in the Elie Wiesel ethics essay contest, and she was the contact for the university. Mrs. Charleston had read my first published article, so she thought I could help myself with my writing.
Then the Kerry-supporting Mrs. Charleston surprised me by telling me that she was going to consider me for a Truman scholarship. For those of you who don't know, it's a public service scholarship worth twenty five thousand dollars, and its funded by the U.S. government (the scholarship is named after some Harry S. Truman guy). Only seventy to seventy five Truman Scholarships are awarded each year to college juniors.
Fortunately for me, professors are included in the job description of "public service". It's convenient for me since that's what I see myself doing in the future, but I never thought of teachers as public servants. Have you?
Before, four to five 500 word essays on random probing questions would have been scary. But, now I'm a confident pessimist. I have a pretty good idea for the main piece, in where I have to describe I problem that I see in America and propose a study for it (since I would have to follow up on it if I became a Truman Scholar). But that'll be for another day.
I'll take this opportunity to think about grad school, since where I want to study after my undergrad is one of the questions on the applications.
I also have to come up with three faculty recommendations. Interestingly, I might be able to get a professor each from the business college, the arts and science college, and the engineering college. I have to find a different professor for my leadership experience, my chance for future academic success, and my desire to go into public service. I don't foresee a problem there, as long as I don't procrastinate.
Each university is allotted 4 candidates for the Truman Scholarship. These candidates must be handpicked by the school, and Tulsa employs a former Howard Dean supporter to search for them (and other scholarships like the Rhodes, Marshall, and Goldwater). This year, though, she's found six or seven candidates. I'll actually will have to make it past the preliminaries of my own school just to get nominated. It'll be tough, but my self confidence is at an all time high so I have a pretty good shot at receiving a nomination.
After you're nominated, you have to write essays to your regional Truman Board. Mine, for some reason, is out in Phoenix, Arizona. If I manage to qualify, the university will fly me there to do the interview part of the application. I'm sure the interviews will be brutal.
My pessimism sets in on my GPA, which is a fairly good 3.687. That's pretty good for a dual major in engineering and history, but it's not as good when you're up against people with 3.9 GPA's or better. But I already know the meaning of grades. I just hope those selecting the Truman Scholars will know the same thing.
I just ask my friends not to confuse confidence with optimism. Because I still don't see how I'm going to beat the tough competition. I'm not sure if my community service record will be comparable to my fellow candidates.
I suppose that's why others always have to tell me what I can't see in myself. Allow me to share a quote from a poet named Yamada:
I wish you could see what I see when I look at you.
It has a nice ring to it.
Yesterday, I talked to Nona Charleston, the director of nationally competitive scholarships. I had been planning to try my hand in the Elie Wiesel ethics essay contest, and she was the contact for the university. Mrs. Charleston had read my first published article, so she thought I could help myself with my writing.
Then the Kerry-supporting Mrs. Charleston surprised me by telling me that she was going to consider me for a Truman scholarship. For those of you who don't know, it's a public service scholarship worth twenty five thousand dollars, and its funded by the U.S. government (the scholarship is named after some Harry S. Truman guy). Only seventy to seventy five Truman Scholarships are awarded each year to college juniors.
Fortunately for me, professors are included in the job description of "public service". It's convenient for me since that's what I see myself doing in the future, but I never thought of teachers as public servants. Have you?
Before, four to five 500 word essays on random probing questions would have been scary. But, now I'm a confident pessimist. I have a pretty good idea for the main piece, in where I have to describe I problem that I see in America and propose a study for it (since I would have to follow up on it if I became a Truman Scholar). But that'll be for another day.
I'll take this opportunity to think about grad school, since where I want to study after my undergrad is one of the questions on the applications.
I also have to come up with three faculty recommendations. Interestingly, I might be able to get a professor each from the business college, the arts and science college, and the engineering college. I have to find a different professor for my leadership experience, my chance for future academic success, and my desire to go into public service. I don't foresee a problem there, as long as I don't procrastinate.
Each university is allotted 4 candidates for the Truman Scholarship. These candidates must be handpicked by the school, and Tulsa employs a former Howard Dean supporter to search for them (and other scholarships like the Rhodes, Marshall, and Goldwater). This year, though, she's found six or seven candidates. I'll actually will have to make it past the preliminaries of my own school just to get nominated. It'll be tough, but my self confidence is at an all time high so I have a pretty good shot at receiving a nomination.
After you're nominated, you have to write essays to your regional Truman Board. Mine, for some reason, is out in Phoenix, Arizona. If I manage to qualify, the university will fly me there to do the interview part of the application. I'm sure the interviews will be brutal.
My pessimism sets in on my GPA, which is a fairly good 3.687. That's pretty good for a dual major in engineering and history, but it's not as good when you're up against people with 3.9 GPA's or better. But I already know the meaning of grades. I just hope those selecting the Truman Scholars will know the same thing.
I just ask my friends not to confuse confidence with optimism. Because I still don't see how I'm going to beat the tough competition. I'm not sure if my community service record will be comparable to my fellow candidates.
I suppose that's why others always have to tell me what I can't see in myself. Allow me to share a quote from a poet named Yamada:
I wish you could see what I see when I look at you.
