The Class of 1989: NFB Scholarship Winners

The Class of 1989: NFB Scholarship Winners

Future Reflections Special Issue1989, Vol. 8 No. 4
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THE CLASS OF 1989:
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE
BLIND SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
[PICTURE] Scholarship winner Johnnie Burns (far left) is shown
here with President Marc Maurerand Scholarship Chairperson
Peggy Pinder as she prepares to accept the top
award of $10,000 at the 1989 NFB Banquet.
The following article is reprinted from the October,
1989, Braille Monitor.
At the banquet of the National Federation of
the Blind convention in Denver, Colorado, on
July 8, 1989, twenty-six blind men and women
received scholarships totaling $69,200. The
scholarship awards ranged in value from $1,800
to $ 10,000, but when one includes the value of the
expense-paid trip to the convention, the
monetary commitment that the NFB has made to
these post-secondary students exceeds $100,000
in 1989.
Considering the financial demands always
facing the Federation and the desperate requests
for our help that appear in the mail to the National
Office every day, it is reasonable to ask
whether the size of this investment is justifiable
each year. The answer from all those who have
observed the fruits of the scholarship program
over the last several years and who met the 1989
winners is a resounding yes. Each year our past
winners take an increasingly active role in the
work of the organization. Their commitment to
our cause of making life better for the blind and
their accomplishments provide a significant part
of the energy, direction, and increasing momentum
of our movement as it begins its sixth decade
of life.
Taken together, this year's scholarship class is
perhaps the most impressive group of winners we
have yet assembled. They come from or study in
twenty-one states, Puerto Rico, and the People's
Republic of China. On Wednesday morning at
the Board of Directors meeting each winner was
given an opportunity to speak to the convention.
Here is what they said about themselves and their
plans:
Michelle Abadia from Puerto Rico: "I'm attending
Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
I'll be a sophomore this year. I'm
majoring in French with pre-law counseling, and
I intend to become a lawyer."
David Arocho from New York: "I will begin
classes at the Albany Law School, and I hope to
become a very good lawyer."
Johnnie Burns from Louisiana: "I am attending
Florida State University in Tallahassee,
Florida. I intend to pursue a doctorate in special
education, and I want to give back to the Federation
what they have given to me--freedom."
Cheryl Cameron from Illinois: "I did my undergraduate
degree at Princeton University and am
pursuing a graduate degree at Tufts University in
a program concentrating in Latin American History
and Development Economics. Right now
I'm doing a summer job in Washington, D.C., and
I hope upon completion of my program in the
next year to return to D.C. and pursue a full-time
job in either the U.S. Agency for International
Development or hopefully by then the NFB
might have persuaded the State Department that
they should accept blind people as Foreign Service
Officers."
Denise Clifton, Oregon: "I am attending the
University of Oregon. I will be a junior this fall. I
am studying journalism, and I plan to write for magazines and newspapers. Currently, I work for
the school newspaper, and I'm doing an internship
for Oregon Business Magazine."
Christopher Craig, Missouri: "I am pursuing a
specialist degree at the School of Administration
with plans to complete a Ph.D. at Missouri
University in Special Education and Administration."
John
de Benedetti, California: "I graduated
from Stanford University with a degree in
Human Biology, and I've been working in the
Biotechnology field. I'm going to Northwestern
University to the Kellogg School of Management
to receive an M.B.A. degree, and I intend to
return to the Biotechnology field. I plan also to
be a leader in the blind community as well as the
community in general."
Ronald Dixon, Illinois: "I'm a fourth year
sociology student at the University of Chicago.
My plans are to go into law."
Tricia Ferrell, Kansas: "I'm planning on attending
Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas. I'm
planning on pursuing a degree in Engineering,
specializing in Chemical Engineering."
Rudy Hirota, California: "I'm currently attending
the University of California, Bolt Hall
School of Law. I will be a third year student, and
for at least one year after I graduate, I intend to
clerk for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Pasadena. If things go well, maybe I'll be able to
clerk for the Supreme Court."
Konnie Hoffman, South Dakota: "I'm attending
Dickinson State University in North Dakota,
and I'm majoring in Elementary Education. I've
been an active member of the NFB for a long
time, and I serve as Secretary of the South
Dakota affiliate. I know that the NFB can help
me become a success in my life, and I'm going to
try to help the next generation to do the same."
Christopher Hsee, People's Republic of China
and Hawaii: "I just received my Bachelor's Degree
from the University of Hawaii, and I will be
a first year graduate student at Yale University
majoring in Psychology. Here I would like to thank all of you, especially four people who have
made it possible for me to come here, speak to
you, and win this scholarship. Those four people
are Dr. Floyd Matson, Dr. Jernigan, Peggy
Pinder, and Fred Schroeder. This year I have won
four national scholarships or fellowships, but this
one is the one I am most proud of."
Gerald Jeandron, Louisiana: "I am currently
attending Louisiana State University, pursuing a
B.S. in Psychology. After graduating, I plan to go
to law school. I serve as President of the Baton
Rouge Chapter of the National Federation of the
Blind and am also First Vice President of the
Student Division in Louisiana."
Barbara Jonsson, New York: "I'm at Columbia
University in New York City, and I'm studying
Health Administration for a doctoral degree. I've
been working for several years in the field of
nutrition. I'm a registered dietitian. When I finish
my doctorate at Columbia, I've been admitted to
a clinical nursing program, which will train me as
an RN and nurse practitioner. In the future, I'd
like to run a maternal and child health care program."
Sandeep
Kishan, Maryland: "I am going to be
attending my freshman year at Johns Hopkins
University, seeking a Bachelor of Science and
Engineering degree with a double major in Computer
Science and Applied Mathematics."
Marsha Levy, Pennsylvania: "I'm a student at
Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School in Social
Work and Social Research. I'm in the clinical
social work track and hope to maintain a private
clinical practice as well as teach on the University
level."
Craig Mallinckrodt, Colorado: "I am pursuing
a masters and Ph.D. degree at Colorado State
University in a branch of animal sciences dealing
primarily with genetics. I hope to contribute to
that field as both a teacher and a researcher."
Brian McCall, Pennsylvania: "I'm entering my
sophomore year at Yale, and I plan my major
course of study to be political science and history.
This summer I'm interning for Congressman
Kurt Weldon. While at Yale, I live in Davenport
College, which is the same residential college
that George Bush was affiliated with when he was
at Yale, and it's not the only house I plan to share
with George Bush."
Valorie McMillan, Arizona: "I'm currently
pursuing a career in psychology, specializing in
developmental psychology, and I plan to work
with abused children. There are a lot of people I
would like to thank, but most importantly the
Student Division for last night. All the time that
I was in school there was something inside of me
that wasn't quite right, and I couldn't figure out
what it was. Well, now I know. I'm going to learn
Braille until the ends of the earth."
Valerie Negri, Illinois: "I am going to be a
sophomore at St. Xavier's College, pursuing a
major in elementary education and a minor in
English. For my goal in life, I would like to be the
best teacher that I can be because I think it's a
great responsibility to teach our nation's young
people, and I always hope to be active in the NFB
so that I can give back to these people out here
what they've given to me."
Tami Rhymes, Illilnois: "I will be attending
Wichita University this fall, pursuing my
graduate degree in opera performance. I'm currently
seeking a career not only on the operatic
stage, but the recital stage. I am also preparing
myself for extensive research in the field of vocal
science and its applications to the art of vocal
pedagogy."
Michael Seay, Tennessee: "I'm a senior at LeMoyne
Owen College, a small school in Memphis,
Tennessee, where I am President-Elect of
the Student Government Association as well as a
major in political science with a concentration in
pre-law. I'm currently doing my internship with
the public defender's office of Shelby County, the
oldest in the United States. It is my hope and my
ambition to become one of the best attorneys this
country has ever known."
Cynthia Simon, New Jersey: "I'm an entering
sophomore in the Rutgers College General Honors Program, seeking a bachelor's degree in
political science and an associate's degree from
the Eagleton Institute of Political Study. I hope
to pursue a career in public administration and
eventually to be elected to the United States
Congress."
Mary Ward, Texas: "I'm pursuing a degree in
linguistics and the teaching of English as a second
language. I'm a returned Peace Corps volunteer,
having served in Ecuador for two and a half years.
I will be able to teach English as a second language,
but I intend to pursue a doctoral degree
in linguistics and study exotic languages and conduct
that type of research. I'd like to thank the
members of the National Federation of the Blind
for showing me that I'll be able to do what I really
like to do instead of what I think a blind person
ought to be able to do."
William Warlick, Florida: "I'm on my way to
the University of Pennsylvania to start work on a
Ph.D. in economics with a specialty in international
trade and monetary theory. After I've
finished, I'd like to pursue a career in University
teaching and research."
Matthew Weed, Colorado: "I will be at Yale
College this fall. I will hopefully be receiving my
baccalaureate degree in politics and economics
in four years. I will then continue on to earn a
Ph.D. in political economy."
The Scholarship Committee deliberated long
and agonizingly on Friday afternoon, July 7, and
during the banquet Saturday evening the following
awards were made:
$1,800 NFB Merit Scholarships: Michelle
Abadia, Ronald Dixon, Barbara Jonsson,
Craig Mallinckrodt, Michael Seay, Cynthia
Simon, Mary Ward, Matthew Weed.
$1,800 Hermione Grant Calhoun Scholarship:
Denise Clifton.
$2,000 Francis Urbanek Memorial Scholarship:
Tricia Ferrell.
$2,000 Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship:
Konnie Hoffman.
$2,000 Ellen Setterfield Memorial Scholarship:
Marsha Levy.
$2,500 NFB Merit Scholarships: Cheryl
Cameron, Christopher Craig, Valerie
Negri, Tami Rhymes, William Warlick.
$2,500 Howard Brown Rickard Scholarships:
David Arocho, Rudy Hirota,
Gerald Jeandron, Sandeep Kishan.
$2,500 Frank Walton Horn Memorial
Scholarship: Valorie McMillan.
$4,000 NFB Merit Scholarships: John de
Benedetti, Christopher Hsee, Brian Me
Call.
$10,000 Ezra Davis Memorial Scholarship:
Johnnie Burns.
At the close of the presentation of these
awards, Peggy Pinder, Chairman of the Scholarship
Committee, addressed a few concluding
remarks to the class of 1989. She spoke for us all
when she summed up for the winners the true
significance of what they have been given. Here
is what she said:
"Now that we have bestowed the 1989
scholarships, I want to say just one final word to
this year's winners. We have given to you of our
treasure, of our hard-earned income; but we have
also given to you something else. We consider
our scholarships to you only secondary to this.
We have given you another and greater gift as
through the week we have spent time with you,
attended meetings with you, dined with you,
played poker with you, talked with you, laughed
with you, danced with you, debated and discussed
with you. Through our common experiences we
have showed to you that which is most important
of all to us, the most precious thing we have, and
the thing we now offer to you -- our organization,
the National Federation of the Blind.
"We blind people first felt the need ourselves
to establish an organization because we did not
have a common philosophy, a structure through
which to implement that philosophy, or the
policies that brought it into life. We have made
that philosophy, that organization, and those policies, and we now offer them to you. But we
ask you to recognize with us that a philosophy, a
structure, and policies in common do not make
the National Federation of the Blind. They are
merely the building above the ground. Underneath
it is our feeling for one another. We do love
one another. We do hurt when one of us is hurt.
We do comfort one another when hurt occurs.
We do fight for one another when one of us is
wronged. We do defend one another. We rejoice
with one another when achievements occur because
they are the achievements of each of us, not
in some verbal sense, but really truly ours because
we do love one another and feel that
strength of attachment for one another on which
our philosophy, our structure, and our policies
are built. We offer all of these to you, but particularly
the love. You have shown great achievement
and shown that you can give as well. We give
our movement to you and ask you to love it as we
have, ask you to nurture it as we have, ask you to
make it grow as we have. We are proud of it just
as we are proud of you.
"Scholarship winners, congratulations. Let's
work together to make all our futures come true."
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 1990
In 1990 twenty-six outstanding students will
receive scholarships from the Federation totaling
$71,000 in cash plus payment of their expenses
to attend the National Federation of the Blind
convention in Dallas during early July. Twelve
blind scholars will recieve awards of $2,000; ten
will receive awards of $2,500; three will receive
awards of $4,000; and one (the student judged to
be the most outstanding blind scholar in the nation)
will receive a $10,000 scholarship award.
Scholarships must be received by March 31,
1990. To receive scholarship forms or to obtain
further information, contact: Peggy Pinder,
Chairman, National Federation of the Blind
Scholarship Committee, 814 - 4th Avenue, Suite
200, Grinnell, Iowa 50112; phone (515) 236-3366. Forms can also be had by writing to: Scholarships,
National Federation of the Blind, 1800
Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
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