Celebrating Scholarships
and Fellowships at Duke
Each year, Duke holds a special event to recognize and celebrate scholarship and fellowship donors, honorees, and student recipients. This year, for the first time, the student speaker for the event was selected through a competitive process. The Student Advisory Council for Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative sent an email to 2,200 sophomore, junior, and senior financial aid recipients inviting them to enter the competition; and staff members working on the Financial Aid Initiative reviewed applications and selected the winner.
Congratulations to the winner, Diana Perez, and to the five other finalists: Madeleine Daley, Cheryl Ho, Millicent Okereke, Grace Shih, and Jimmy Soni. Below you can read excerpts from the finalists’ speeches, listen to Diana’s winning speech, and listen to an excerpt from President Brodhead’s remarks.
Diana Perez T'07
2006 Scholarship Speaker
I am part of a community that attends public schools, is in a free lunch program, receives medical attention from free clinics, and realizes the most important obstacle in completing a higher education is money. It’s not that we don’t want to go to college; instead it is a fact that we are clueless as to what opportunities are out there for us. But not anymore because this family has contributed to my transformation into a collegiate ambassador, not just representing Duke University but representing this group of higher education institutions of which we only hear about every once in a while. With my knowledge and experience at Duke, I have become this role model for my community.
Richard Brodhead
President, Duke University
The whole point of this dinner is that people who have done the work of enablement by giving and supporting financial aid at this university are sitting side by side with those who have been enabled by those gifts. I can’t imagine a more beautiful union or communion for an evening than that particular one.
Grace Shih T'08
You aren’t simply supporting a nameless face, an insignificant cause. You are supporting the academic pursuits of unique, talented individuals. You are supporting the growth and maturation of young adults. You are opening up the doors of opportunity for those of us who would never otherwise have them. You are setting an example of magnanimity for us to follow. You are showing us just how to give back to society, just as you have done for us. You are changing the face of the future.
Jimmy Soni T'07
If income and family background closed the doors of the university to all but a select few, then I wouldn’t be among them. My father was born and raised in the slums of India. He grew up not worrying about whether or not he was going to go to college, or whether or not he was going to be able to afford it, but whether the electricity would turn on from day to day. My father studied hard, and thanks only to the kindness of strangers, he earned a scholarship to complete a university degree. My mother grew up in a sleepy town in Northern India, where the expectation of women was that they marry young and settle down quickly. But she was too full of hope and hubris to marry young, and she also aspired to higher study, and again thanks only to the kindness of strangers, she received a scholarship to finish a degree as well. They came to the United States with the promise of a job and the belief that if they worked hard enough, that no doors would remain closed. That I am at Duke, on scholarship, is less a product of things I have accomplished and more a result of everything they have hoped for.
Cheryl Ho T'08
Though I cannot yet fully grasp what my future or the world has in store for me, I do know that everything has to start somewhere. For me, it’s here. I’m still learning about cell biology, I’m still learning about living away from home, and yes, I’m still trying to learn all the cheers for our men’s basketball team. But what is important is this: Duke’s financial aid program has made what was once nearly impossible, possible for me. It is with gratitude that I thank the financial donors for helping me and other students afford the privilege of growing, living, and learning at Duke University.
Millicent Okereke T'07
Even though I knew that my mother did not have the money to send me to a four-year university, I took the chance and applied to this institution. When I received the acceptance letter in the mail, I was thrilled. But the only thing that worried me was the fact that the yearly cost of attending Duke was more than my mother’s annual salary. There was no other way I could attend Duke with my financial situation, especially since I had a twin brother and older sister that would be attending college as well. This concern as well as comments by my friends such as “You’re never going to make it out of this neighborhood!” were constant reminders that all my efforts and struggles in school might do nothing for me because of my financial situation. Living in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, I was given two choices: Do your work in school and get out of the neighborhood, or don’t go to school and hang out on the block. I chose to work hard and see the benefits of it, which is why I am here at Duke University….Duke has shown me how to take charge of my life and meet all the challenges that I will encounter with certainty. I plan on going to medical school to get a MD/MPH and eventually become a pediatric cardiologist.
Madeleine Daley T'09
As my father’s medical ordeal continued while I was in my first college semesters, the financial aid office met my needs time and again. I take the donors’ generosity very seriously and anxiously await the day when I can give back in my own way. As a committed United States citizen aspiring to become a government analyst, I hope to one day use my Duke education to improve and strengthen our nation and to help those in need, just as Duke’s financial aid program rose to the challenge when I needed it most.
