Three Rhodes Scholars named from Yale

Soon after an application method that started with informational sessions in February and ended with a grueling two-day series of interviews, 3 Yale college students have been named as members of the Rhodes Scholars Class of 2014 this weekend. The winners — Isabel Beshar ’14, Vinay Nayak ’14 and Suzanna Fritzberg ’14 — all said they experienced disbelief and delight when they very first heard they had received the Rhodes Scholarship, which gives full funding for students to review at the University of Oxford for two or 3 years.

“It’s been a huge shock. I keep asking my family if I’ve been dreaming this,” Beshar stated. “The past handful of days have been kinda crazy.”  

 Katherine Dailinger, director for national fellowships at the Yale Center for Global and Professional Encounter, explained that whilst dozens of college students apply for one particular of Yale’s nominations to the Rhodes Believe in each yr, student curiosity in the award might have been even increased than normal this 12 months because Yale won 9 Rhodes Scholarships last year, breaking the University’s record. Dailinger additional that Beshar, Nayak and Fritzberg are all “wonderful scholars [who showed] need to fight the world’s fights as properly as a demonstrated potential to do that.”

Nayak mentioned that he could not believe his ears when the Rhodes Believe in affiliates came down to the waiting room and named his identify as one of the two recipients chosen from his residence state of Illinois.

 “I was speechless. I was, and even now am, in a state of shock. I never ever believed in a million many years I’d be offered such a wonderful possibility,” he explained, adding that he is grateful for his close friends, loved ones members and professors who have served as his academic mentors.

In accordance to its website, the Rhodes Scholarship is awarded annually to 32 Americans, along with students from 13 other nations, who exhibit “outstanding intellect, character, capacity for leadership and dedication to service.” Even though every pupil won the exact same award, their interests are diverse, ranging from political science to worldwide health.

Beshar, who is 1 of two recipients from New York, is a double key in molecular, cellular &amp developmental biology and historical past of science and medicine with a concentrate in continual ailments such as diabetes. Even though she became interested in international well being before she came to Yale, Beshar pointed to the University’s global well being fellowship and to her perform at a Type 1 Diabetes laboratory as two important motives for her accomplishment at Yale. 

 Beshar stated she 1st regarded as the Rhodes Scholarship as a sophomore following a single of her professors suggested that she apply. After studying more about the scholarship and about how it would fit with her aspiration to attend health care school, Beshar mentioned she came to see graduate school at Oxford as a special possibility to review medical anthropology. Learning this area would assist her construct health interventions for diabetes in building nations due to the fact it would teach her how cultural and religious aspects may contribute to the disease’s prevalence in specific communities, Beshar explained.

 Nayak, who majors in political science, intends to study public policy and the social science of the World wide web at Oxford. He mentioned his academic interests stem from a need to empower and encourage ordinary people to grow to be better political citizens. Nayak also has extensive operate knowledge in this field, as he managed nationwide digital plans and social media outreach initiatives for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and interned for the White Home Office of Digital Technique this previous summertime.

 “At Oxford, I hope to learn new techniques to engage people in civic discourse, in elections and in government,” Nayak explained, adding that he is excited to be studying in the United Kingdom when a standard election will take location in 2015. Whilst Nayak does not know his potential programs beyond his sojourn at Oxford, he mentioned he desires to continue to be involved with political organizing in some capacity.

Fritzberg, who at present majors in women’s, gender and sexuality studies and is interested in poverty policy study, cited the main differences in between how Britain and America technique policy alleviation as 1 cause for her need to review at Oxford soon after graduation. Whereas American policymakers makes use of piecemeal programs to battle poverty, the British government seeks to use a more holistic method and also has a robust welfare state, she mentioned. She also extra that she was drawn to Oxford due to the fact of the strength of its faculty, many of whom have written extensively about the connection amongst gender and the welfare state.

 Even though she was acquainted with the Rhodes Scholarship for a variety of years, Fritzberg stated she did not decide to apply for it right up until the summer time before her senior 12 months, when her intellectual interests narrowed right after she worked as an Arthur Liman fellow as a poverty policy analyst at the Roosevelt Institute. Fritzberg mentioned that while the Rhodes by no means seemed an unattainable ambition, she was grateful every time she passed another hurdle to the scholarship.

 All three students interviewed explained they are excited to expertise Oxford’s exclusive culture and also meet their fellow Rhodes Scholars.

 “I would say I’m most excited by the opportunity to immerse myself in the Rhodes Scholars neighborhood at Oxford. They come from all cultures, walks of daily life, and all various academic backgrounds and I’m actually searching forward to meeting those inspiring people and the opportunity to learn from them,” Nayak said.

 Outside the classroom, the college students said they search forward to participating in a selection of actions such as a cappella, intramural sports and some of Oxford’s richer traditions like cricket and punting.

All stated they are also fired up to select a single of Oxford’s residential colleges in which to commit the up coming couple of years of their academic lives. Oxford’s residential program is “like Yale’s on hyper-drive,” Fritzberg explained.

 6 students from the Rhodes Scholars Class of 2014 came from Harvard — the only college that surpassed Yale’s representation. Whilst Stanford also claimed three recipients, Princeton, the University of Virginia and West Level won two scholarships apiece. Twelve other colleges have been represented in this year’s class.

Three Rhodes Scholars named from Yale