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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships Ashland downtown beautification project underway on Lithia Way Memorial Day rites set for Monday Grizzly earns prestigious UO academic scholarship Police Reports Education Grizzly earns prestigious UO academic scholarship The battle for the Earth Bowl Principal Zundel looks to next challenge Youth Activities and Academics Levy rolls in early returns It takes a village to raise a child Environment Demonstrators hope to save tree Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Mt. 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Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... GOP's war on the poor ... Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... ASHLAND HIGH SCHOOL Grizzly earns prestigious UO academic scholarship Yaconelli one of six Oregon students to receive full ride, plus $12K in 'enrichment funds' By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 6:27 pm By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 6:27 pm » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Joseph Yaconelli was proud to be one of 18 finalists for the prestigious Stamps Leadership Scholarship invited to the University of Oregon campus in late January, but as the credentials of the other Oregon high school seniors were announced during the banquet, he wondered if he wasn’t in over his head. “All the other competitors were from Eugene or Portland, and one from Salem,” he said. “They had all worked at hospitals or won Innovation awards, and I remember thinking that I was just a small-town person with all these hot shot city kids, and after each bio I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m winning this scholarship.’” Apparently, the small-town kid had something many of those hot shots didn’t, because the following week during a Robotics Club meeting Yaconelli received a call from University of Oregon’s vice president for enrollment management, Dr. Roger J. Thompson, who told Yaconelli that he was one of six students who would receive the most lucrative scholarship that UO hands out. The merit-based Stamps Leadership Scholarship, offered by the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation in partnership with the University of Oregon, covers UO tuition, room and board for four years of undergraduate study and also provides up to $12,000 in “enrichment funds” which can be used to study abroad, for unpaid internships or for any other opportunity that may enhance the students’ educational experience. In addition to the financial support, which amounts to approximately $110,000 over four years, Stamps Leadership Scholars are automatically granted admission to UO’s Robert D. Clark Honors College, a small liberal arts college of approximately 800 students which features small class sizes (classes are limited to 19 students) and emphasizes independent research. Yaconelli excused himself from class to take the call. On the other end, Thompson began thanking Yaconelli for applying and interviewing, a formality which sounded to Yaconelli, now hanging on every syllable, like the beginnings of a polite rejection. Then Thompson finished with, “We really did have a lot of tough competition there, and I wanted to let you know that you are one of the few who have won.” “I just flipped,” Yaconelli said. “The first thing I did is I literally jumped, and then I almost dropped the phone, and the whole time I was just saying, ‘Thank you so much, thank you so much.’” While Yaconelli expressed sincere shock upon receiving the news, it’s doubtful that anybody with access to his resume would have a similar reaction. Yaconelli, who skipped eighth grade, is the captain of Ashland High’s FIRST Robotics Team, was co-president of the Gender Equality Club, competes on the school’s state championship speech and debate team and is an accomplished mandolin player. He also was a founding member of the school’s bi-weekly video broadcast, designed and taught a computer programming workshop for middle school students and was selected by AHS principal Michelle Zundel to be a keynote speaker at the Evolving Education Summit on Entrepreneurship. “I’ve known Joseph for four years and he is an extraordinary young man,” Zundel said. “He is a capable, elite performer in music, he’s extraordinary on stage and in plays, he does robotics. I am pretty sure he uses a higher percentage of his brain than most of us.” Yaconelli said he applied for the Stamps Scholarship around the end of October, then “sort of blew it off as another lottery ticket.” Besides the application to UO, the scholarship required two essays and a detailed list of leadership activities and other commitments. He spent most of a Friday putting everything together and had no idea when, or if, he would hear back from the university. “I had this vague idea that I’d hear back some time in maybe January or February, something like that,” he said. “So I sort of moved on to a bunch of other schools to apply to.” The first word Yaconelli received from UO was a rejection email that was mistakenly sent out. “We regret to inform you that you are not a finalist,” it read. Yaconelli was disappointed for about two minutes. Then another email arrived from UO correcting the first. Oops. He was a finalist, and was invited to the campus for an overnight stay that would include the banquet and an interview with six or seven administrators. Yaconelli worked with his mom to prepare for the interview, which he says lasted about a half-hour. He can’t remember most what was said in the room. It was a blur, he says, and though his preparations were thorough, when the time came to face the department heads Yaconelli felt unprepared. One exchange is still fresh in his memory, however: he was asked to name a historical figure that he looks up to. It wasn’t a question he had considered until that moment, but Yaconelli was quick on his feet. Albert Einstein, he responded. “It was sort of cliché, but I talked about how he was someone who revolutionized the thought process and the way that people approach scientific problems.” When the interview was over, Yaconelli felt much better about his chances. After receiving the scholarship, he decided to spurn a full-ride offer from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., where his brother, Noah, is a freshman. It was a tough decision, made more difficult by the fact that he’s close to his brother, but in the end Yaconelli decided Oregon’s offer was just too good to pass up. “(Noah) was a little bummed, but he understood,” Yaconelli said. Now, one of Ashland High’s most accomplished students can enjoy the last few weeks of his high school life without worrying about what comes next. “I remember the night I sat down and went online and attempted to register for UO,” he said. “The next morning I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s done.’ It’s been this year-long process. Starting the spring of my junior year I’ve been writing essays, applying for scholarships. There’s always been another thing, and there’s always been this uncertainty. ‘I could go there, I might get in here, I might get money.’ And to find a place where I had financial security that I knew I loved, it was probably the biggest deep breath I had taken all year.” Joe Zavala can be reached at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 6:27 pm » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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