Helena Karasova's letters of reference
From my Political Science professor
April 17, 2003
To Whom It May Concern:
It is my great honor to add my voice to the
other testimonials in affirmation and support of Ms. Helena Karasova, an
undergraduate Political Science student of mine here at Central College during
the past three years. On her way to
successfully completing a Political Science major (Global Politics and Policy
concentration) -- one of two-- the other is in German, Helena has taken several
classes with me. Through these, and
also from many extended conversations about international politics, global
public health, her own life experiences and career aspirations, I believe I have
really gotten to know her as a person. I feel that I am in a good position to
speak about this extraordinary young woman and the promising professional future
that lays ahead of her, to the benefit of the many people her life's work will
touch.
Helena is simply one of the most caring,
motivated, hard-working, and talented young people I have ever encountered in my
20 years of college teaching. In
recognition of her academic performance, no fewer than three different faculty
members here independently decided to nominate her for our Graham Distinguished
Scholar award this year. The Graham award is made to a graduating senior who is
"distinguished in both academic performance and in promise of future
service to the world." This kind of recognition goes well beyond grade
point average, or other measurable indicators of outstanding performance.
Helena has managed to combine a graduate
student calibre academic record with a public service motivation and attitude
toward all of her courses and assignments.
She takes research, writing, public speaking, group-based projects, and
examinations seriously, recognizing them as vehicles intended to help convey her
a little bit farther down the road, in pursuit of her dreams. If we gave grades for character, integrity, energy,
persistence, and effort, she would still be a straight-A student.
In research projects with me, Helena has
repeatedly proven herself to be fearless, going to the authors of books and
articles, rather than relying upon their writing. She has a methodological
sophistication in her political and social science work that should position her
very well for effective graduate level research and course work in a top
international public health program.
In preparing a paper about HIV/AIDS policy
in South Africa, she contacted many of the top South African academic and
government researchers. In an
excellent study of environmental parameters of cancer, she contacted Dr. Sandra
Steingraber, a well-known authority, at Cornell University.
The notable thing here is not that she did this but that in every case,
these busy, important people write back, return an e-mail, follow-up, and get to
know, admire, and support Helena. She
connects seamlessly with people from all walks of life. This, along with a
creative, enquiring mind, and determination to persist, even in the face of
major obstacles, is part of the key to her promise and character.
If a way can be found to finance her
graduate education in public health, I am certain that Helena will do great
things in some future medical profession. I
urge you to consider helping financially in any way possible. Please help her to overcome this latest obstacle: invest in
Helena's potential.
Sincerely, Dr. James J. Zaffiro
Professor of Political Science
Co-Director, Environmental Studies Program
(641) 628 5132
zaffiroj@central.edu
From my American dad
“Our”
Helena
By
Duane Ausherman
I first met Helena Karasova in her country, the Czech Republic, in 1997.
At that time, I was living and teaching English in Trebic, her home town.
She was only 17, but her maturity, intellect and goals impressed me
immediately. Even
though she only had three years of English and many of my students had more,
hers was the best.
Her desire to learn English was so great that she came to live in
California with our family and attend our local high school.
In senior English she had the highest grade point average, 5 % above the
second place student, a native speaker.
She flourished in our system and wanted to continue to study in the USA.
Her teachers wrote wonderful letters for her college applications.
We agreed to financially assist her with her undergraduate studies.
Helena was awarded a generous scholarship by Central College, a small
private liberal arts college in Pella, Iowa.
She returned home to finish her last year of high school.
Her country doesn’t recognize study in the USA.
She had to take special courses for two tests.
A test for her ability with English called the TOEFL (test of English as
a foreign language) and our SAT.
I agreed to pay for all expenses related to her continued schooling.
We trusted her so much that I had a credit card, on my account, made up
for her. She
has never abused that card in any way.
While we had never heard of Central College, it has turned out to be a
wonderful choice for Helena.
The personal attention has stimulated her to work hard and succeed well
above our greatest expectations.
I will summarize her accomplishments.
After her freshman year, she returned home for the summer to work in her
first medical internship.
She worked as a nurse assistant at a Catholic Hospital in Prague.
During her sophomore year her mother passed away from a long battle with
breast cancer.
Helena took one semester off to be with her family and then returned to
resume her studies.
She studied one semester in Vienna for her major and turned in 24 credits
with a 4.00 GPA.
To fill her “spare time” she found her own medical internship in
pediatric asthma.
This was the second of three medical internships in which she has worked.
She also volunteered for community service work at The Galt Community
Concillio, our local help agency for Mexican workers.
Her last internship was at the Community Breast Health Foundation in Palo
Alto, California.
It was started by Stanford Hospital in 1992.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a GPA of 3.87.
While it takes at least 4 years, or more, for most to finish, Helena
completed her studies in only 7 semesters.
She graduated with a double major, German and Political Science with a
3.97 GPA in each.
Helena has completed the senior Honors Project with a study of writers in
Prague in the early 1900s.
This is similar to a Masters Thesis, only smaller.
Helena is now working as an intern in the Office of Community and Patient
Relations at Stanford Hospital. She is getting a great start on public
health. During
this time she studied for her GRE exam for graduate school.
She applied to several graduate schools of public health. So far
she has been accepted to Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
The
usual government loans are not available to non citizens.
Needed are funds from persons, groups, fellowships and scholarships.
If you are willing to donate, that is great.
If you know of some group, or are willing to organize a group to assist,
that would be wonderful.
Personal loans may be needed to finish out the total.
Helena will not be allowed to stay here to work beyond her graduate
studies, so her earning ability is expected to be quite limited.
She also has plans to continue on to medical school, specializing in
Oncology.
Your ideas for financial assistance will be greatly appreciated. Please contact Duane Ausherman at 209-745-3935 or w6rec @ sbcglobal.net and take out the two spaces.