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Kjersten Lea Gingerich Towanda, Pennsylvania, USA Brick Section F - Row 22
In an autobiographical sketch written last spring, Kjersten Gingerich commented: "(After a tour of the plant where my father works) I could see myself someday becoming a mad scientist." The recipient of the Rensselaer Medal at the end of her junior year, Kjersten is well on the way to achieving her goal of becoming a scientist. Mad, however, she is not. Mathematically gifted, she is a focused, disciplined science scholar already. Kjersten entered Emma Willard in the fall of her sophomore year. Although she was born in Ames, Iowa, she has lived most of her life in the small town of Towanda, Pennsylvania, where she attended the public school system through ninth grade. At Towanda she was in the highest mathematics track possible and advanced in all other areas. Since her first days on this campus she has earned excellent grades overall and extremely good grades in math and science. She is enrolled in the more difficult level of precalculus as a senior, and had she been with us since her freshman year, would undoubtedly be in AP Calculus. In all areas she is described as "disciplined," "focused," "diligent," "determined," and "curious." Her trigonometry teacher wrote, "Kjersten's work is simply excellent. She is intuitive and perceptive and has a tremendous work ethic." In chemistry she was described as "thorough," "methodical," and "hard-working." She earned the only straight A for the spring semester in that course. In addition to her work in traditional academic areas last spring, Kjersten elected a course in child development. She has said that working with children, particularly with children's education, is something she would like to contemplate for the future. She works naturally with children and was observed to have "excellent interaction with the kindergarten. She is gentle and humorous." At the same time, Kjersten brought to the academic portions of this course (one that uses a college level psychology text) attention to detail, discipline and creativity. In short, no matter what the discipline, Kjersten Gingerich demonstrates the characteristics of a true scholar. In spite of her concentration on her academic work, Kjersten has found time for a variety of extracurricular activities. As a freshman she played the oboe in the concert band at her high school, and she has continued to play with the Emma Willard orchestra for the past three years in addition to taking private lessons. Swimming was important to her and as a freshman she won a varsity letter on a team that became district champions. Kjersten's events were the 100 yard breast stroke and the relay. She also won a varsity letter for cross-country as a freshman. Emma Willard has no competition pool so Kjersten has been forced to give up competitive swimming during her years here. She ran cross-country as a sophomore, but again was forced to change sports when Emma Willard dropped its team. Undaunted, Kjersten tried out for a place on the field hockey squad, earning a j.v. spot. She co-captained the junior varsity volleyball squad as a junior. (Volleyball's switch from a winter to a fall sport meant that she had to choose field hockey over volleyball this season.) Kjersten will graduate with two varsity letters in softball as well. In addition this year she serves as treasurer of the senior class. During her freshman year Kjersten was a library aide at her local town library, and she has continued to be a volunteer there each summer since. Academically talented, Kjersten Gingerich is also a musician, an athlete and a school leader. She is an outstanding young woman who will greatly enrich her college community. She comes to you with our very high recommendation. 12/22/94
Narrative Updated: 12/22/1994
Honored By:	Richard G.W. Gingerich