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Hello President's Council of Cornell Women.
My name is Keri Truitt, I am originally from Queens, NY and I attended Hempstead
High School on Long Island where I graduated 3rd in my class with high honors. I am
currently a senior here at Cornell University in the College of Arts & Sciences.
I chose to attend Cornell not only for its wonderful reputation as one of the most
prestigious universities in the country but because of the beautiful scenery that Ithaca
boasts; unfortunately, the $40,000+ tuition and other expenses don't exactly make
Cornell a real possibility for students like me. I would therefore like to express my
deepest gratitude to your council for the $4,000 that you have awarded me through the
Cornell Tradition fellowship.
I am currently completing my requirements for a major in English, and I hope to pursue a
career in print Journalism upon graduation from Cornell. I am enrolled in a web design
course at the moment which is surprisingly interesting and I am working on finishing a
minor in Africana Studies as well. My last semester here will hopefully be smooth
sailing.
During the academic year, I work as an administrative assistant for the Ujamaa work
study program. I spend most of my free time working as Editor-in-Chief on Black
Perspectives Newspaper, Cornell's only campus publication dedicated to the voice of the
people of the African Diaspora.
This past summer, I interned with the NYC Human Resources Administration in the
Office of Public Information and Communication. I gained a lot from the internship,
including some great networking connections, a couple of published writing samples as
well as detailed research experience in the history of the agency.
I hope to use writing samples accumulated over the summer and throughout this
academic year to apply for magazine internship this coming winter. Then, my next step
will be to apply for post-graduation employment opportunities. I'm really looking
forward to it!
Again, I just wanted to communicate my sincere appreciation for this Cornell Tradition
award and to somehow convey to your council that I will take advantage of the chance
that I have been given to spend another wonderful year here at Cornell.
Sincerely,
Keri Truitt '07
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Dear President's Council of Cornell Women,
Often times, we get so caught up in the day to day activities that we forget to
pause and look at how blessed we truly are. It is easy to complain about everything
around us, but I am truly grateful for organizations such as yours, which seek to
promote academic fervor and community involvement through scholarship awards. The
money that I have been awarded is wonderful, but knowing that there are people out
there who see my potential and are willing to invest in me, is the greatest honor of
this award. As I begin to conclude my junior year, and I look into what my future
holds, I hope to be a part of this group of dynamic women who seek to foster and
encourage leadership at the undergraduate level. It is your commitment to seeing me
succeed that reassures me that I can. Meeting some of you at the Tradition reception
was also a great experience. Speaking with women who had changed career paths,
switched lifestyles and have all succeeded tremendously, allows me to be at ease
with my current state of indecision concerning career paths. No matter where I end
up, I know that there are people out there who will support me in my endeavor toward
success. I would like to say a heartfelt, thank you! Thank your for your donations
and I hope that you will continue to sow a seed into women, like myself, who need to
know that there are women out there who believe in their potential.
Thank You,
Amma Aboagye
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To the President's Council of Cornell Women,
Once again, your generous organization has provided me with a named
scholarship for the academic year. I cannot express how grateful I am that you would
select me for this honor once more. The monies that you provide do a great deal in
funding my education, and help me to get through all the expenses of the year with
minimal debt. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
As I gave you background information about myself last year, I thought that I
would just give you an update on my academic life and how your monetary contribution
has been so helpful. This summer, I was selected, out of over one hundred applicants, to
attend the Research Experience for Undergraduates program in beautiful Juneau,
Alaska, at the University of Alaska Southeast. Before going, I had no idea just how much
of an impact this program would make on my life. My research mentor was Dr. Sanjay
Pyare, and he has been studying the landscape ecology of the declining Boreal toad
(8ufo boreas) as a part of a large-scale amphibian monitoring effort. As you may know,
amphibian populations around the world are declining severely, and more and more
extinctions are occurring. As indicator species, they are telling us that there is something
wrong with the current state of our planet, and if we don't do something, amphibians will
not last into the future. This summer, I assisted in collecting data on important information
for the conservation of the Boreal toad, and then did some independent research of my
own.
I traveled all over Southeast Alaska, from the National Wilderness of Admiralty
Island, to the logging-marred landscape of Prince of Wales Island, to the river-dominated
wetlands of the small town of Haines. In every area that my toad research partner and I
ventured, we used maps and GPS (global positioning systems) to find randomly selected
possible toad breeding sites, and then looked for the presence of toads and/or toad
breeding and took microhabitat data. We did this to determine if the Boreal toad is
declining in Southeast Alaska, as it is in the lower-48, and also what characterizes its
breeding habitat, as it is found in a diverse range of sites. We hiked many miles a day,
stayed in cabins without running water or electricity for weeks, climbed 4,000 foot
mountains in XtraTuffs (Juneau sneakers, or rubber boots), ran into bears and learned
how to use bear spray (never too close, luckily), and canoed down (and sometimes up!)
rivers, all in search of these cryptic toads. At the end of the summer, I also did an
independent research project based on the mircohabitat data that we had collected,
and presented my work in front of a critical scientific audience. I gained an
invaluable amount of field research experience this summer, and I now know, without a
doubt, that I want to be doing this for the rest of my life. I also made many lasting
friendships, and important professional contacts for possible research positions next year.
This summer I got to walk on a glacier, fly in float planes, travel for days on inter-island
ferries, hike up mountains to rustic cabins, drive a boat, catch halibut and Dungeness
crab, and wade through chest-high water... all while learning about my future career.
This was an experience that I will always remember, and one that I know has profoundly
impacted my life.
The scholarship that you gave me last year, along with the one you have just
given me, have facilitated my ability to participate in this amazing program, and keep
me active in both academics and my community throughout the year. Once again, I
want to express my deepest thanks for bestowing me with this honor. You will not be
disappointed; your award has and will open many doors for me, just as I am sure it has
opened many for the countless other young women whose lives you have touched. I
owe so much to you for that.
Sincerely and best wishes,
Michel Ohmer |
