For the annual California Scholarship Federation (CSF) and California Junior Scholarship Federation (CJSF) central region conference, hosted by the CSF chapter of Chowchilla High School, members and advisers gathered on the campus of University of California, Merced, April 2.
Among the day’s events, senior Austin Ward was presented with the Seymour Memorial Award, which includes a $5,000 scholarship, and eighth grade students Molly Coleman and Chris Grossman received the Marian Huhn Award and $250 each.
At the convention, students from the CSF central region gathered to spend the day at UC Merced, with sessions organized by Chowchilla students.
The opening assembly in the main auditorium welcomed attendees and introduced the 10 Seymour finalists, giving excerpts from their applications and personal essays. After this, an ice breaker was held, which taught groups how to make braided leis in CSF’s characteristic blue and gold colors.
Members attend break-out sessions
Following the ice breaker, three sessions provided options for students to participate in activities ranging from making cards for a convalescent home to engaging in an Easter egg hunt. During this time, students were able to socialize with groups from other schools, and experience UC Merced’s campus.
Although junior Kendall Wheeler said she was not impressed with the sessions, she valued her time on a college campus, associating with both fellow students and new faces.
“It was a fairly enjoyable experience,” Wheeler said. “The sessions weren’t the best thing, but spending time with classmates and meeting some new people was fun. Also, getting to look around the campus was enjoyable.”
Schools compete in quiz bowl
After attending sessions and eating lunch, attendees moved back into the auditorium to watch the quiz bowl competition. In the first round, FC representatives, seniors Ashley Ward, Elise Porter and Ricky Lopez, went up against a team from Gustine High School.
The teams sat at separate tables as proctor Marilyn deGennaro read out toss-up questions, which anyone could answer. Whichever team answered the question correctly first was then presented with a bonus question. After 10 minutes of quick thinking and deliberation, the Gustine group emerged victorious.
In the fourth and final round, Ashley, Porter and Lopez once again competed against Gustine as the two teams with the highest scores. While the crowd watched intently, Gustine came out on top for a second time, winning the quiz bowl trophy.
“Being on the quiz bowl team was a lot of fun,” Porter said. “I had fun competing with Ashley and Ricky because they were competitive, but not so into it that it wasn’t fun anymore. Most of the questions weren’t too hard, but some of them were pretty difficult. Sometimes, especially during the second round, we couldn’t hear the question properly, which was frustrating because a few times we knew the answers but we just couldn’t understand the question the first time it was read.”
Awards ceremony concludes conference
Once the quiz bowl was over, CJSF Regional Vice-President of Central Coast Dan DeGennaro introduced the 12 Huhn Award finalists. Coleman and Grossman were among five winners of this award, and each received $250.
Both students felt nervous about the event, and were shocked by the resignation.
“I can’t believe that I won,” Coleman said. “I was hoping that I didn’t trip when I walked up there. But now I wonder what I will do with the money.”
While Coleman worried about tripping, Chris thought about how he would break the news to his parents.
“I wondered what I would tell my mom because she was unable to be there,” Grossman said. “I also thought that it was neat that both candidates from Fresno Christian won.”
Next, CSF President Nancy Yarbrough once again introduced each Seymour finalist, and announced Ward as the winner. As a result, he received a $5,000 scholarship, while the other nine finalists received $2,000 each.
“I was very surprised and excited to win! I thought all of the finalists were fantastic, and I really had no idea what decision the committee would make,” Ward said. “But I am extremely pleased to have won the award and the quite large scholarship, just as Suzanna [Quiring, ’10] did last year.”
Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the 10 Seymour finalists participated in a group interview and lunch with the CSF Seymour Memorial Award Committee members, who evaluated finalists’ performance and used it as a factor in determining the Seymour recipient.
For Ward, the group interview process provided an opportunity to spend time with fellow Seymour candidates. He enjoyed conversing with the group for about four hours during the conference, he said.
“All of the candidates were talented, accomplished and interesting people,” Ward said. “I really had a great time talking to them and finding out their passions. A few of us have even reconnected on Facebook. I hope we all can stay in contact, as it would be interesting to see everyone’s success in the future.”
According to CSF adviser Molly Sargent, Ward’s win was a well-deserved honor. Having participated in Seymour Award judging in previous years, she felt that Ward was a student who demonstrated the criteria for the award.
“I couldn’t have been any happier,” Sargent said. “After six years on the committee, I think I have a good idea of the level of student who wins the Seymour Award. Most awards are based on GPA and academics, but the Seymour focuses on character, and Austin is one of the best people I know. We don’t live in a fair world. Often times, very deserving people get overlooked. This is one time when a very deserving person didn’t get overlooked.”
For more information on CSF, read the April 28, 2010 article, CSF members reflect on year’s events.
