ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110006
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Rebecca Hogan never set out to make straight A's in school. She just paid attention in class, took notes and did her homework. She hasn't made a grade below an A since she was in elementary school.
She never planned to become valedictorian at Roanoke's Patrick Henry High School. She just finished her school assignments before she went out to have fun with friends. She's in line to finish No.1 in her class, although the final determination won't be made until June.
Hogan never thought about making the all-state team as a volleyball player. She just loves to play the game and helped her team to a state runner-up finish and a 20-3 record.
Hogan, a senior, didn't campaign to be Patrick Henry's homecoming queen, but the students chose her.
She did enter the competition to become a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia, where she will enroll in the fall. But she never really expected to win one of the school's prestigious four-year scholarships, valued at more than $40,000.
"It was a kind of a hope and wish, but it wasn't something I thought would ever happen," she said.
In the final round of competition for the scholarship, Hogan spent four days in late March in Charlottesville taking exams, participating in panel discussions and being interviewed by professors, deans and other university officials.
Seventy-four finalists from among hundreds of students who were nominated by public and private high schools across the country were brought to UVa for exams and interviews. A high school can nominate one student. The nominees are screened locally and regionally before the finalists are chosen.
Twenty-nine Jefferson Scholarships were awarded this year - nine to Virginians and 20 to students from other states. Hogan was the only winner in the state west of Lynchburg.
Hogan, 17, said she was humbled by the four days in Charlottesville. "I was surrounded by intelligent people who would ask off-the-wall questions. We had a math and logic exam, a writing test and interviews," she said. "My confidence was shot."
Hogan came home to Roanoke exhausted and depressed, believing she would not win one of the scholarships, which are based on academics, leadership and citizenship.
"I told my mom that I was sorry I didn't get a scholarship," she said. "I felt like I could sleep for a week."
Two days later, Hogan opened the mailbox to find a letter from UVa. She assumed it would confirm she would not receive a scholarship, but she still opened it. She read the first two lines - and was stunned to learn she was a winner.
Hogan said she still finds it hard to believe. She said she's almost afraid to go to the mailbox now because she thinks she'll find a letter saying, "Sorry, we were just kidding. You really didn't win."
The scholarship will pay her tuition, fees, room, board and other costs. In addition, it will cover all expenses for five weeks of summer study in Europe between her second and third years.
Hogan has also been accepted by Duke and Johns Hopkins, and is awaiting word from Princeton. But she decided to attend UVa even before she won the Jefferson Scholarship. She is familiar with the university because her father is a graduate of its law school. Many of her friends also attend UVa.
Her mother wanted her to go to Harvard, but she didn't think she would fit in there. "I don't feel like I am a Harvard person, and I don't like cold weather.''
Both of Hogan's parents, who are divorced, are in the legal profession. Her father is a lawyer in Richmond, and her mother is a paralegal for a Roanoke lawyer. But she's not considering law as a career.
Hogan plans to study chemical engineering at UVa because she has always been interested in science and math. She has attended the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology, taking accelerated math and science classes, since she was in the ninth grade.
Hogan believes she could use a chemical engineering degree to become involved in research medicine or a related field. "It will be easier to branch off into different areas if I have an engineering degree."
Patrick Henry Principal Elizabeth Lee said Hogan is an outstanding student who has made significant contributions to the school.
"She is well-rounded in every area - academics, athletics, leadership and other activities," Lee said. "She has been such a delight."
Hogan also has been involved in community and charity work. She is president of Interact, a community service club that raises money for Special Olympics, child-abuse prevention and other programs. She has also been active in Young Life, a Christian fellowship organization.
While Hogan takes her studies seriously and spends up to two hours a night on homework, she said she's not an eccentric intellectual.
"Like most teen-agers, I hang out with my friends," she said. "I'm a big fan of music, and I like to go to concerts." She especially likes several local and regional rock bands.
Winning a Jefferson Scholarship will change Hogan's life soon in one way that all teen-agers understand: She will get a new car.
She said her mother can afford to buy the car with part of the money that will be saved because of the scholarship. She has started looking at something a little more sporty than her mother's van, which she's been driving.
"I'm not going to get anything too expensive," she said. "I don't want to spend all of the money the scholarship will save."
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Patrick Henry High School seniorby CNBBecca Hogan in the lab at the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for
Science and Technology: "It was a kind of a hope and wish, but it
wasn't something I thought would ever happen," she says about the
Jefferson Scholarship she won from the University of Virginia.
color.