Last year the Wall Street Journal challenged ten presidents of US colleges and universities to answer one essay question (which WSJ selected) from the president’s institution’s application. This story has discusses the process and the results and includes some very good consideration about writing such essays.
The exercise showed just how challenging it is to write a college essay that stands out from the pack, yet doesn’t sound overly self-promotional or phony. Even some presidents say they grappled with the challenge and had second thoughts about the topics they chose. Several shared tips about writing a good essay: Stop trying to come up with the perfect topic, write about personally meaningful themes rather than flashy ones, and don’t force a subject to be dramatic when it isn’t.
Perhaps next year I should do the same thing with our essay questions. What do you think? You can read the full article here.
The announcement of this tremendous gift to the SHC went out on the Penn State news wire today. I have had the opportunity to get to know the Polis’ over the last two years and they are a wonderful couple who are thoroughly committed to Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College. It was our students who inspired the the Polis’ to give their gift.
“I was incredibly impressed with the quality of the students and what they were doing,” Polis recalled, “They are really motivated. At that point, I felt this was something I would want to support.”
Be sure to read the full story at Penn State Live. The news wire announcement:
Gift to Schreyer Honors College reflects Penn State’s lifetime impact
Listen to a conversation with Jerry Polis, and his Penn State connection
comes through loud and clear. “The biggest thing Penn State taught me was how
to think, and I believe that’s helped me a lot in life,” said Polis, who
graduated from the University in 1953 with a B.A. in commerce and has lived in
Nevada ever since. “I feel like Penn State was very good to me, and I would
like to be able to repay it in a small way.” Repayment came recently in the
form of a $1 million commitment from Polis and his wife, Lotty, to establish
the Jerry Polis Family Honors Scholarship to benefit students in the Schreyer
Honors College.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/39839/nw1
I thought our graduating seniors and parents might be interested in this bit of news.
Graduation photos in Beaver Stadium
Ever dream of running out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium? Here’s your chance – The Penn State All-Sports Museum is pleased to announce that a photographer will be at the stadium from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday May 16 and from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday May 17 for those who would like to commemorate their time at Penn State with an image taken in the heart of Nittany Nation. Come create a lasting memory and show your Penn State pride on your graduation.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/39656/nw63
The medal ceremony is just around the corner and Eisenhower Auditorium will be bursting with proud parents, friends, and family members. I wonder if any will have an honors tattoo…
Frazz by Jef Mallet
Today is the last day of classes and we are fast approaching graduation! This past Monday was thesis turn-in day and, in fact, I am currently listening to an album produced by Scholar Andrew McLean for his thesis. He is a Chemistry major but wrote, performed, and produced an album for his thesis in music technology. (You can visit his myspace site here.) Some of our students will recognize Andrew since he lead The Pulse, the band that performed for the last two years at our SHO Time orientation event Late Night with the Dean.
As we move towards commencement the university has posted the list of spring 2009 commencement speakers. What is exciting for us is that we have no less than three Scholar alumni who will be speaking!
- David Han, ‘88 Sci, 05g will be addressing the PSU Harrisburg graduates
- Greg Lucier, ‘86 Eng will be addressing the PSU Engineering graduates
Congratulations to all our soon-to-be graduates!
Finally, there was a recent study about social media and its effect upon the ability of people to empathize. A Collegian reporter interviewed me for an article which appeared online today. You can follow me on twitter at SHCDean.
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