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22nd Class of YSU University Scholars introduced
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Members of the 22nd Class of Youngstown State University Scholars hail from across the Mahoning Valley and beyond, and their majors run the gamut of the university’s colleges.
The Leslie H. Cochran University Scholars program is a full-tuition, room-and-board scholarship awarded annually to 40 of the best and brightest high-school graduates throughout the nation.
Steven Hall II from Beaver Local High School, Errek Pham from St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Natalie Halavick from Mathews High School and Tayah Turocy from Wadsworth High School are among the 40 students in latest class.
Hall will major in chemistry, while Pham plans to major in pre-med with an eye on entering the Ohio State University Medical Center to pursue his medical degree.
“A relative recommended to me that I do NEOMED [Northeast Ohio Medical University] and attend one of the three feeder schools,” Pham explained.
When he applied for and was awarded the University Scholars Scholarship though, he opted for that route instead because he’d be able to earn his bachelor’s degree and graduate without debt.
Hall’s older sister was a University Scholar several years ago, so he knew it was something he wanted to strive for, too.
He knew YSU’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics College is high quality and believes it will give him the opportunity to explore different branches of chemistry.
Amy Cossentino, assistant director of YSU’s Honors Program, said that to be accepted, a student has to score a minimum of 28 on the ACT or 1860 on the SAT and be in the top 15 percent of his or her high-school class.
“It’s very competitive,” she said.
The average ACT score of the incoming class is 31, about 95 percent of them are in the top 8 percent of their class, and the class includes 18 valedictorians.
“It’s a very impressive group,” Cossentino said.
The work doesn’t end upon getting in, however. University Scholars must maintain a minimum 3.5 grade-point average and contribute 60 community-service hours per year.
Cossentino said many students contribute more than the required hours. Just last fall, scholars logged 9,000 hours of community service, she said.
Halavick said she initially was concerned about meeting all the program’s requirements, but that dissipated after meeting other students. She looks forward to living on campus.
“I’m more excited than worried,” she said.
Turocy was nervous at first, too.
“But after meeting the other scholars and learning about the community-service opportunities, I’m confident I can meet the requirements and have fun while doing it,” she said.