
DATE: Sunday, June 15, 1997                 TAG: 9706130245

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  105 lines

BRICKELL SCHOLARSHIP WINNER PLANS TO ATTEND DUKE; BECOME A DOCTOR

Steven K. Lin not only likes a challenge, he rises to it.

And if he says he's going to be a medical doctor, and likely a surgeon, you can just about bet on it.

Others say he has a great sense of humor, is well-rounded and easily admits he isn't perfect.

Lin, 18, who graduates this afternoon from Kempsville High School, was this year's winner of the Edward E. Brickell Scholarship for $5,000, named for the former Virginia Beach school superintendent. Lin's scholarship total so far is nearly $13,000 and he is waiting word on others. The Brickell Scholarship is the largest so far.

In fact, May 29 - the day he received the award - was proclaimed ``Steven K. Lin Day'' by Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.

Jane Fowler, guidance director at Kempsville High, called Lin ``a wonderful energetic, enthusiastic student. He's athletic, plays varsity tennis and was active in the Latin competition.''

He is the son of Cheng and Susan Lin.

Lin is graduating with well above a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He was expecting a 4.73 or 4.78 average, he said last week, depending on one class: English.

Yet, he was not always recognized as extremely bright, nearly being kept back in first grade in Texas. His problem area: English. ``I was failing spelling,'' he said.

The Lin family had moved from Taipei, Taiwan, to Texas. Steven had learned only a little English. Then as now, his strongest areas of knowledge were math and science.

His father, a mechanical engineer in Taiwan, had moved his family to this country to get his doctorate at Texas A&M. He convinced Lin's teachers the boy could do the work. Cheng Lin ``told them from then on out, Steven would get all As,'' said Robert Graves, chairman of the Brickell Scholarship selection committee, and administrator of Virginia Beach General Hospital.

Steven Lin recalled, ``In second grade I got all As.''

That story, and much else, convinced the Rotary selection committee, sponsors of the scholarship, that Lin was the best candidate of the 24 Brickell Scholar nominees for this year's award.

Another factor that convinced the committee of Lin's exceptional qualities was his ``personal testimony about his faith,'' Graves said.

``In an interview setting, you don't want to go out on a limb. He spent a great deal of his interview time giving testimony to his strong personal faith. That was very impressive for a young man,'' he said. ``He's a well-rounded individual, not just a studious type that you might normally think of when you think of a scholar. He's a super guy and we're proud of him.''

Lin's father is a professor of mechanical engineering at Old Dominion University. His mother recently earned a master's degree in computer science from ODU.

For several years Lin and three other students who will graduate along with him at the head of the class have competed and encouraged each other. All excel in math and science.

``I think I am as good as I am because of these three people,'' Lin said of his friends and fellow graduates Paul Hamilton, Andrea Wong and Wendy Williams.

The four competed in the Science Bowl, which Lin described as being like ``Jeopardy!,'' the television game show.

Lin, a Southern Baptist, takes no credit for his achievements. ``I have received a gift, a blessing from God. It is up to me to take this gift and share it with the world.'' Lin plans to share his gifts as a physician.

While he was accepted to many big colleges, he chose Duke University in Durham, N.C., where he will major in biology and chemistry.

Other achievements for Lin include being an Advanced Placement National Scholar, playing varsity tennis and participating in Science Bowl. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CAROLE O'KEEFFE

Kempsville grad Steven K. Lin won the Brickell Scholarship for

$5,000.

Graphic

BRICKELL SCHOLARS

The following students from Virginia Beach high schools have been

named 1997-1998 Brickell Scholars and will compete throughout the

next school year for the annual Brickell Scholarship:

Richard Andersen - Princess Anne

Annamarie Bautista - Salem

Ryan Bautista - Tallwood

Daya Bill - Ocean Lakes

Sabrina Cochran - Cox