The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

A FSA is pleased to announce the 25 Foreign Service high school seniors who were selected as the 2009 AFSA Merit Award winners. These one- time-only awards, totaling $35,700, were presentedonMay 1 duringAFSA’s ForeignAffairs Day reception. AFSA congratulates these students for their aca- demic and artistic achievements. Winners received $1,800 awards and hon- orable-mention winners received $800 awards. The best-essay winner and the community service winner each received $250. Judges weremembers of AFSA’s Committee on Education and individuals from the Foreign Service commu- nity. This year, 70 students competed for the 21 AcademicMerit Awards. They were judged on grade-point average, SAT scores, essays, two letters of recom- mendation, extracurricular activities and any special circumstances. From the Academic Merit Award applicants, a best-essay winner (Sybil Bullock) and a community service winner (Kathryn Shull) were selected. Nine students submitted art merit applications under one of the following categories: visual arts, musical arts, drama or creative writing. Art applicants were judged on their works of art, two letters of recommendation and an essay. Rachel Midura was selected as the Art Merit Award winner for her short story and novel-excerpt submissions, and was also an Academic Merit Award win- ner. Joseph Kenny and Kirsten Salpini were selected as the Art Merit Award honorable-mention winners. Joseph submitted his paintings under the visu- al arts category, while Kirsten offered a poem and short story in the creative writing category. Eight academic-merit named scholarships have been established to date, and these awards were bestowed on the highest-scoring students. The recipi- ents of these scholarships are: Rachel Midura, receiving the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide Scholarship; Joshua Downes, receiving the John and Priscilla Becker Family Scholarship; ArjunDheer andChristopher Wilson, receiving the Turner C. Cameron Memorial Scholarships; Katherine Neitzke, receiving the John C. Leary Memorial Scholarship; Zachary Charles and TorrinMarquardt, receiving the Joanna and Robert Martin Scholarships; andAdamScott, receiving theDonald S.Memorial andMariaGiuseppa Spigler Scholarship. For more information on the AFSA Merit Awards or the AFSA Scholarship Program, or how to establish or apply for a scholarship, contact Lori Dec at (202) 944-5504 or at dec@afsa.org . Visit us online at www.afsa.org/scholar/. 2009 AFSA Merit Award Winners Zachary Charles – son of Cleveland Charles (State) and Rose Beauchesne; graduate of McLean High School, McLean, Va.; attending the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in economics; designated the AFSA/Joanna and Robert Martin Scholar. Ian Christensen – son of W. Brent Christensen (State) and Brenda Christensen; graduate of the International School of Beijing; attending Brigham Young University, majoring in biology. Arjun Dheer – son of Rajendra Dheer (FCS) and Archana Dheer (State); graduate of Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Md.; attending the University of Maryland-College Park, major- ing in environmental science and policy; designated the AFSA/Turner C. Cameron Memorial Scholar. Adam Scott – son of John F. Scott (State) and Rochelle Scott; graduate of McLean High School, McLean, Va.; attending the University of Virginia, majoring in business; designated the AFSA/Donald S. Spigler Memorial and Maria Giuseppa Spigler Scholar. Nick Settje – son of Robert Settje (State) and Melanie Settje; graduate of George Mason High School, Falls Church, Va.; attending Cornell University, majoring in chemistry. Torrin Marquardt – daugh- ter of R. Niels Marquardt (State) and Judi Marquardt; graduate of the American School of Antananarivo; attending the University of California-Berkeley (has not declared a major); designated the AFSA/Joanna and Robert Martin Scholar. Katherine Neitzke – daugh- ter of Jean Neitzke (State) and Ronald Neitzke (State); graduate of Thomas Jeffer- son High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va.; attending the University of Virginia, majoring in biolo- gy; designated the AFSA/ John C. Leary Memorial Scholar. Anna Berstein-Simpson – daughter of Rose Berstein (USIA) and Peter Simpson (deceased); graduate of the Holton-Arms School, Bethesda, Md.; attending Dartmouth College, majoring in European history and French. Academic Merit Winners Joshua Downes – son of Robert Downes (State) and Sara Downes; graduate of Wakefield High School, Arlington, Va.; attending the University of Texas-Austin, majoring in history; designat- ed the AFSA/Priscilla and John Becker Family Scholar. 54 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 0 9 A F S A N E W S Rachel Midura – daughter of Christopher Midura (State) and Kelly Midura; graduate of South Lakes High School, Reston, Va.; attending the University of Virginia, major- ing in history and creative writing; designated the AFSA/AAFSW Scholar and also the AFSA Art Merit Award winner for creative writing.