Wake Forest Magazine, March 2007 - Past Issues - Wake Forest ...

ROB JUDGESRhodes Scholar” in terms of the hypeassociated with the scholarship. Beinga person who generally prefers to bebehind-the-scenes, I found those firstmonths after the scholarship overwhelming,but also an opportunity toshare what I’m passionate about with alarger audience. At first I felt somewhatdaunted by the expectations othersseem to have of Rhodes scholars;any notions of academic genius orfuture presidency simply do not applyin my case, but I think you learn todisregard these expectations, try not tocalculate how in the world you endedup here, and simply respond with gratitudeto the opportunity and determinationto appreciate and use it to thebest of your ability.Belonging to a group of incrediblyaccomplished peers has generated selfdoubtand also pushed my conceptionsof my potential and capabilities insome really helpful directions. Somesee the scholarship as a ticket in life:a credential that will put them on the“fast track.” Others view it more interms of future obligations and expectationsof how we should be involvedin “fighting the world’s fight,” as Cecil[Rhodes] put it. I think it has to besome of both. Undeniably, the scholarshipwill open doors that would nothave been open to me otherwise andallow me access to a sphere of influence,particularly in terms of the friends Ihave made here. But I regard the scholarshipin the long-term more as a tremendousprivilege that carries with itexpectations: not a specific list of acceptablecareers, but an acknowledgementthat I was not given this opportunityto get ahead myself, but rather toimprove the life chances of others.L A K S H M I K R I S H N A NHE RHODES HAS AFFORDED METthe opportunity to move beyonda rigid path and experience a widerintellectual and social milieu. Thechance to go to Oxford, to study literaturebefore going to medical school,to have the license to read widely anddeeply in new disciplines, to explorean entirely new educational culture,and to craft along the way a selfdirectedpath—these, to me, are someof the best things that the scholarshiphas offered. Navigating the challengesof Oxford’s decentralized, intensivelystudent-motivated system is a prospectabout which I’m both anxious andexcited. I am sure that adjusting tothis newness will tax and alter mypreconceptions of myself, particularlyas I just graduated and attained adegree of comfort that Wake Forest’snurturing, individualized atmospherehelped to create. Oxford, I realize,will be a very different proposition.I’m experiencing the natural worrythat accompanies being a freshman(“fresher,” in the U.K.), along withthe complexities of moving abroadand—for the first time since enrollingat Wake Forest—leaving homefor uncharted territory. But I cannotthink of a better time to delve intosuch an experience; fresh from anEnglish degree at Wake Forest, Ihave the chance to study literatureat the same university where my literaryheroes were undergraduates. It’sa dizzying opportunity. The Rhodeshas been a liberating force in my life,since it has carved into a previouslydetermined course several years inwhich to expand and shape myselfas an academic, a traveler, a friend,and a person.office dedicated to identifying andadvising the cream of the scholasticcrop and to acting as a clearinghousefor post-graduation funding opportunities(see box on page 21).In the twenty years since Chapmanwon his Rhodes (and in addition tothe other Rhodes recipients duringthat period), more than seventy WakeForest seniors have received some ofthe world’s most illustrious and competitivepost-graduation scholarships.Among their ranks are twenty-nineFulbright Scholars, fourteen TrumanScholars, at least nine Rotary Scholars,six Luce and six Goldwater Scholars,three Beinecke and three MellonScholars, and two Marshall Scholars.So impressed were Truman Scholarshipofficials with Wake Forest’s successwith its program that it presenteda special award to the University in2001. The overall numbers are all themore striking in light of the College’scomparatively modest size and thesomewhat decentralized and unofficialapproach it took to honors scholarshipadvising before creating the WakeForest Scholars Program.The Fulbright Scholars program isa good example of the positive effectthe Wake Forest Scholars Program ishaving on the quantity and successrate of scholarship applications. Fulbrightgrants provide to recent collegegraduates ten to twelve months ofpost-graduate research, study, or experienceteaching English in one of morethan 140 countries. From 1975 to2002, Wake Forest averaged less thanone Fulbright recipient a year. In2004–05, the institution nominatedsix students for the Fulbright andreceived four. Last year, it nominatedtwelve and won six. This year, it nominatedtwenty-four.The number of eminent and highlycompetitive post-graduation scholarshipMARCH 2007 19