Four Chinese American students among twenty young men and women earned their New York Times College Scholarships for their triumph of sprit over hardship, the will to succeed against daunting odds, announced by The New York Times March 8. They were selected from a pool of 1,400 college-bound high school applicants. This is the fifth year of the Times scholarship program, and the new winners bring to 101 the number of New York students who have received help in fulfilling college dreams. In June the first group of Times scholars are expected to graduate. Each of this year's scholars will receive $7,500 a year for four years, a sum that in many cases exceeds their parents' annual earnings. If the past is a guide, most will patch together enough scholarship money from other sources to cover all their college costs. Each will also get a computer and printer from The Times, a $500-a-week summer job at the newspaper and exposure to Broadway and other cultural attractions in the city. Ten of them, sophomores or higher, will be given jobs this summer at New York Presbyterian Hospital. In addition, a teacher named by each scholar will be recognized, with an award and a $3,000 grant.
The four Chinese Americans are: Jeannie Chan, 18, Midwood High School at Brooklyn College;
Yu Mei Lin, 18, John Dewey High School, Brooklyn; Yi Cai Isaac Tong, 17, Brooklyn Technical High School; and Tina Wang, 17, Hunter College High School, Manhattan. (Source: Clyde Haberman, The New York Times, March 8, 2003).