No Secret to Their Success : National Award Winners Did More Than Hit the Books

One wants to be a math teacher. Another wants to be a researcher or a doctor. And a third is weighing whether to study physics, paleontology or art history, among other things.

But all three Central Los Angeles high school seniors have something in common: Their stellar academic records have earned them prestigious national scholarships.

Kun Hye Eliza Lee of Los Angeles High School and Nathaniel Jacobs of Crenshaw High School have been awarded $2,000 National Merit Scholarships. Isabel Cueva of Los Angeles High School won a $1,500 National Hispanic Scholar Award.

It’s no mystery why Lee scores well on the verbal section of standardized exams. In addition to reading classic literature by the likes of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, Lee boosts her vocabulary by devouring books by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.

“Reading good novels, especially the classics, will really benefit you in the long run,” Lee said by way of advice to other budding scholars. “Reading is how I travel. It’s more economical. All you need is a library card.”

The 18-year-old Los Angeles High School student is equally proficient in math, a subject she plans to study at UCLA where she will enroll this fall with a Regent’s scholarship. Lee, an A student, scored more than 700 out of a possible 800 on both the verbal and math sections of the SAT.

“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to become a math teacher,” said Lee, who moved to Los Angeles from Korea 15 years ago.

During her three years at Los Angeles High School, Lee has participated in the Multicultural Awareness Club, offered health tips to fellow students as a Teen Health Advocate, competed as a member of the academic decathlon team and painted over graffiti and volunteered for other community work with Interact Rotary and the Youth Community Service.

In her spare time, Lee, a self-described “die-hard Beatles fan,” listens to music and practices calligraphy. She doesn’t log much TV time, though. “My mother says it’s bad for your eyes,” she said.

The modest senior didn’t tell her friends about being named a National Merit Scholar, but they found out and offered their congratulations.

Crenshaw High School’s Jacobs says his biggest problem--and his greatest joy--is not knowing what he wants to do in life.

“I don’t want to limit myself,” said Jacobs, a tall 17-year-old with a disarming grin. “I thought about being a paleontologist, going on a dig. Or becoming a physicist, since that’s my best subject. But I also love literature and art history. . . . I don’t think I have to be any one thing.”

A Gardena resident, Jacobs said he chose to attend Crenshaw instead of Narbonne High because of its magnet program for gifted students. Though he said the commute is often tiresome--he gets up at 5:30 a.m. to make it to school on time--he said the many friends he has made among students and teachers makes the extra effort worthwhile.

He speaks passionately about the courses he enjoys, particularly an advanced placement art history class last semester that opened yet another world to him.

“We got to do a lot of writing, a lot of art critiquing,” said Jacobs, an avid reader. “Learning about new things, like Egyptian and Byzantine art styles, is like learning a new language.”

Despite his fondness for learning, Jacobs says he has learned his greatest lessons outside the classroom, “just in being exposed to life and picking up books and things that aren’t assigned.” Jacobs’ wide range of interests include archery, fencing, volunteering for the ecological group Treepeople, competing on Crenshaw’s academic decathlon team and fiction writing.

Jacobs is Crenshaw’s 1993 valedictorian, leading some students to label him “Nat the Genius” and kid him about his extensive vocabulary. But Jacobs said he gets along well with everyone. “Pigeonholing people is really sad,” said Jacobs, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t look at ourselves so superficially.”

He has been accepted to his two schools of choice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, but hasn’t decided where he will go.

It was academics that earned Cueva a scholarship from the National Hispanic Scholar Recognition Program. She is the 1993 valedictorian of Los Angeles High School, a straight-A student recognized as among the top 2% of U.S. students academically by the Tandy Technology Scholars program, and a recipient of a Presidential academic fitness award.

As part of her scholarship application, Cueva, 17, wrote an essay about her Mexican-American heritage.

“The importance of the family unit, an education, pride and hard work, among other things, needs to be stressed to our children so that they develop a sense of belonging and an understanding for their heritage,” she wrote. “If it had not been for my Hispanic heritage, I would not be the hard-working, goal-oriented person that I am today.”

Cueva plans to attend Occidental College, where she would like to study math as preparation for becoming a researcher or a doctor. “The critical thinking gained from studying math will really help me no matter what I do,” she said.

Cueva has been a member of the academic decathlon team, the French Club, the senior council and a mathematics and engineering program sponsored by USC.

Cueva’s fellow students and teachers elected her to the school’s Ephebians Society in recognition of her outstanding academic achievements and community service. She encourages other students to take an interest in improving their city.

Cueva was one of about 3,000 Latino students invited to apply to the National Hispanic Scholar Recognition Program. Scholarships of $1,500 are awarded to 500 students, and another 500 receive $100 honorable mention awards. The awards are based on grades, SAT scores, recommendations, an essay and community involvement.

Students in more than 19,000 high schools competed in the 1993 Merit Program. After an initial screening of about 1.1 million students, 2,000 high school seniors were awarded National Merit Scholarships.

Recipients were selected by a committee of college admission officers and high school counselors who considered each finalist’s academic record, standardized test scores, contributions to their school and community, the students’ interests and goals, and recommendations from the school principal.