One board member, along with several CSF advisors, sorted through about 30 applications from their region to pick 10 nominees on March 3.

In honor of California Scholarship Federation?s (CSF) founder, Charles Seymour, the Charles and Marian Seymour Memorial Award was created to honor an “outstanding life member” in each region.

?This year, two (from this campus) applied for the award,? Ellen King, CSF adviser said. ?Kristen (Amerine, ?07) was picked for a finalist.?

Ten students are chosen from each of the five regions and all receive $1,250. The top finalist from each section receives an extra $750 along with one of the highest scholastic honors given in California.

?To be chosen as a finalist is a huge honor in it itself,? Molly Sargent, CSF board member, said. ?There are more than 1,000 chapters of CSF in California and Kristen made the top 50. That?s less than 1% of the seniors in California.?

The 50 finalists are judged in their district by the five board members and a student representative. The judges ask numerous questions before finalizing their decision.

“The five committee members and one student ask the finalists one question each,? Sargent said. ?They?re not hard questions. These questions are asked to get to know better the candidates? character. We pick the winners by judging them by their services in the CSF club, community service and their character to make sure they?ll make a positive impact in the world.?

The 10 finalists of the Central Region met in Chowchilla at the Cornerstone Church on April 21 to receive their scholarship money.

?I was nervous after I met the other finalists, eight girls and one guy,? Amerine said. ?After the questions session, I spoke with the judges and they said ‘it was hard to choose’. I felt like I was at the bottom. Then a judge came up to me and told me she believed I was going to do great things in life and I had a certain glow to me.?

In addition to being CSF president, Amerine is yearbook editor, involved with Peer Counseling, four years of soccer and captain during her junior and senior season, one year of volleyball and three years of softball.

?I thought Kristen had a good chance of winning,? King said. ?The judges are not just looking for smarts. The students need to be well rounded, do lots of work in the community, involved in sports, music and other things, and Kristen does all those things.?

Although not chosen to be the regional winner, Amerine does not regret applying and plans to put the money towards college.

“I was so honored to be chosen,” Amerine said. “It was such a rewarding experience to meet with nine great students from throughout the Central Valley.”

Amerine will attend Westmont College next fall and plans to study graphic design and mass communications.

?Since Westmont is expensive, the award really helps with the expenses of buying books and school supplies,” Amerine said.