I came across the Rhodes Scholarship today. It's an amazing scholarship that provides the 32 US recipients a chance to study any post-undergrad discipline they choose at Oxford, all expenses paid for. The scholarship judges applicants at four standards:-literary and scholastic attainments
-energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports
-truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship
-moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings
With former Rhodes Scholars going on to become powerhouses in their respective fields the Rhodes Scholarship bar is set high. This is all to apparent looking at the 2008 batch. Among them Isra Bhatty, a Muslim Pakistani American is an all-star. Having completed her first year at Yale Law she will be going to Oxford for a year. She also knows six languages and has worked as an interpreter at Gitmo, to say the least of her achievements.
Although it is probably to late for me to be a Rhodes Scholar, it definitely encourages me to excel in academics and community service.