Two years ago, a light bulb went on in Creighton University President, the Rev. John P. Schlegel’s, S.J., head. He decided to implement the Presidential Mentoring Scholarships to help prepare students for competitive and prestigious scholarships.

Desire to do graduate work in any field, ability to communicate well both verbally and written, academic success and intellectual curiosity are characteristics sought after in a Presidential Mentoring scholar, Schlegel said. He developed the idea of the scholarships while he was executive vice president of John Carroll University.

The seven 2009 Presidential Mentoring scholars are all from the College of Arts and Sciences and include junior Adam Karnik, sophomore Ana Heck, junior Kristin Wakin, senior Brian Martens, junior Paul Akre, junior Dan Meyer and sophomore Sumit Kar. Each student exhibits academic achievement, leadership, interest in research and plans to apply for competitive fellowships and scholarships.

“It’s a great way to identify talented students looking to apply for competitive scholarships,” said associate dean of the English department Dr. Bridget Keegan. “Getting to work early with them gives them adequate experience and mentoring support throughout the entire process.”

Meyer is a junior philosophy major and English minor planning on applying for a Fulbright Scholarship to Germany, the Marshall Scholarship and the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship next year.

“It was very helpful on getting started early and readying materials I would need in the future,” Meyer said. “The scholarship helped me establish communications with professors.”

All sophomore and junior students from the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business or Nursing planning to apply for any prestigious external scholarship are eligible. Students are informed if they are eligible and encouraged to apply.

As a junior biochemistry major, Wakin was informed about the scholarship by an e-mail from the Advising Resource Center.

“By receiving the Presidential Mentoring Scholarship last year, I was able to participate in a personal statement workshop and learn how to improve my personal statement, which is such a key component to every scholarship application,” Wakin said. “I think that this really helped me to be more competitive in the application process because this year I received the Presidential Mentoring Scholarship again, along with an honorable mention for the Goldwater Scholarship.”

In the past, several students have succeeded in receiving prestigious scholarships. Two examples are Anastasia Yanchilina, a 2007 Mentoring scholar, who was a 2008 Goldwater Scholarship recipient, and Danae Mercer, a 2008 Mentoring scholar, who received this year’s Davies-Jackson Scholarship for two years of study at Cambridge University.

The application process includes a personal statement outlining backgrounds, interests and future plans, research plans or proposal and two letters of recommendation from faculty members or other individuals qualified to evaluate the student’s intellectual and leadership abilities. Finalists undergo an interview with a selection committee, which is comprised of faculty advisers for national and international scholarships and fellowships.

For more information about each of the mentoring scholars, please visit http://www2.creighton.edu/publicrelations/newscenter/news/2009/.