Faith Zeng, a senior this fall at the Boston Latin School, is one of five students in the nation who will receive full college scholarships from the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship Fund. The value of the scholarship will depend on the cost of the student’s college.
Other students chosen to receive the awards live in New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, and rural Vermont. The awards were made in the students’ junior year to allow them to select a college based on their aspirations and abilities, not finances. The all-expense scholarships cover tuition and fees, room and board, books, a laptop, as well as a modest stipend.
Now in its second year, the college scholarship program is part of the Leonore Annenberg Scholarship and School Funds, a three-pronged philanthropic initiative that targets young people who possess the potential to become the cultural and community leaders of the next generation. The awards focus on exceptional young artists, successful high school juniors who have faced serious challenges, and public elementary schools lacking essential resources for their students.
The program reflects the late Leonore Annenberg’s lifelong commitment to public service, education and the arts, and her unparalleled efforts to improve the lives of the nation’s youth.
“These awards provide opportunities for artistic growth and educational advancement to beneficiaries whose contributions will strengthen American cultural life and enrich our democracy. Their conduct and body of work will serve as a constant reminder of Leonore Annenberg’s generosity and high standards,” said Gail Levin, director of the program.
Ms. Zeng is an extraordinarily well-rounded young person: artistically talented, strong academically, service-oriented, and rich in leadership skills, even in a highly competitive environment. She has been described by her teachers and members of her community as intellectually curious, bright, generous, and focused, and extremely resilient. In the words of one faculty member, she is a “model citizen” and the “epitome of somebody who has triumphed and soared.”
Faith is an accomplished artist who has studied painting, pastels and charcoal. Her favorite mediums are pastels and charcoal. Of her art work, a gallery owner noted that if she were to put several of her paintings on exhibit in the gallery it would be very difficult to tell that was not a professional artist with many years of experience.
Faith also has embraced academic excellence; in her junior year, she challenged herself by taking three advanced placement and three honors courses, achieving great success. A talented writer, her work reveals an extraordinary depth of sensitivity and understanding.
In school she has volunteered in the main office and the guidance office, with her supervisors taking special note of her reliability and professional manner. She also does volunteer tutoring with younger students in math and Latin. Outside of school she participates in the Homework Assistance Program, tutoring elementary school children at a library and serving as a mentor and role model.
Faith’s leadership is evident in the positions she has held: president of her school’s Art Club, vice president of the White Out Club (a web design club), art editor of the school’s literary magazine, and editor-in-training for the yearbook. She also is actively involved in a diverse group of clubs, including the Mod Squad that sews and knits, as a member of the layout staff for the school newspaper, and web master for the Junior Classical League.
While art may be her passion, the sciences are in Faith Zeng’s professional future. She has tentative plans to earn a doctorate in psychology or a medical degree, specializing in psychiatry.
Students who were selected as Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship recipients last year, 2008, will be attending Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and Tufts University this fall.
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