Scholarship Winner: Thai Doan, Northwestern University
Scholarship Essay Excerpt
....When
the treasury paperwork lets up and the event planning wraps
up, I enjoy seeing the product of planning events, improving
our building, and seeing the smiles on the faces of all
the dorm residents I serve at Northwestern. Affectionately
known as \"Lindgren House,\" I serve as treasurer
for a small group of residents. We are smack dab in the
middle of a group of fraternities. It is a different kind
of life, yet traditionally \"college\" in nature
and nevertheless an enjoyable experience. During my first
year serving the house, I have been elected on numerous
committees to bring enjoyment to our community. I have participated
in charity groups such as Relay For Life and Red Cross,
bringing our home to help collect donations. Lindgren elected
me to aid in Building Improvement, and together we helped
redesign many parts of our home to better facilitate learning
and social experiences.
Working
with others in a social and accounting sense is far different
than my high school days. They seem like yesterday, although
it was just over a year ago. Aside from being on student
government, National Honors Society, concert band and orchestra,
I was particularly interested in science and furnished many
interesting science projects. Science opened many avenues
-- I was a three-time research presenter at the Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair, an event that brings over
1,400 people from 48 states and 39 countries to honor science
and its methods. I was elected as an American Junior Academy
of Science (AJAS) delegate for my work on Azadirachta indica,
known as the neem tree. The neem tree is renowned to have
positive biological effects on humans from its leaves, bark,
and oil extracts -- predominantly used in Africa and southern
Asia.
In
2004, I was one of four students awarded the Scholar of
Distinction award from the Minnesota Academy of Science,
for my research at the Rhizobium Research Laboratory in
St. Paul, Minnesota. I researched the use of a botanical
surrogate host for the rhizobia bacteria, which if used
properly on certain plants can reduce or eliminate the need
for commercial fertilizer. Such plants, prairie legumes
and the sort, are used on highways and pastures to absorb
toxic chemicals and prevent erosion of soil nutrients. I
found the research to be most interesting and enjoyable.
The
library was certainly a niche to help out the community.
It is the usual clerk business, but it is very much a whole
new world among thousands and thousands of books. I published
online resources for patrons thru the library\'s web site
and help out patrons whenever I could. I also indexed many
of the newspapers that flowed through the building, ensuring
that the little part of history I indexed would be preserved
forever. There were many diverse and interesting people
who came to the library, and I loved aiding each and every
one of them -- authors, journalists, genealogists, and the
guy that just needed the newspaper. As a child of the internet
and commercial books, I had almost forgotten what it was
like to go to the library to find the information that I
needed -- versus surfing online or going to a *bookstore*
to find a resource..
Congratulations
again to scholarship recipient Thai Doan! Will you be the
next winner?
Apply online right now and give it your best shot. Good
luck!
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