By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Sterling Scholar general scholarship award winner Nancy Chang
celebrates with her parents, Unice and Sherwin Chang.

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Kaiser girl wins top
Sterling Scholar Award

Nancy Chang receives the prize
of $8,000 for general scholarship

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Private school is good for some students who need extra initiative, but her parents didn't think she needed that, said Nancy J. Chang, a Kaiser High School senior.

She proved it Saturday, winningil,6p9,6p9 the top Sterling Scholar award for general scholarship and $8,000.

Steven Y. Okamoto of Hilo High School placed second in the category, winning $4,000. Janelle Ishida of Molokai High School was third, receiving $2,000.

They were among 65 Hawaii high school seniors awarded $112,000 in Sterling Scholar college scholarships, presented at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Chang plans to attend Harvard University in the fall -- her choice of six prestigious colleges that accepted her.

She plans to go into medicine and become an ophthalmologist. She had an internship two years ago at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Fla.

"It's a great way for me to serve the community," she said. "It's something I've always dreamt of doing since I was small.

"I've always had the ability to connect with people, and a science and math aptitude.

"I thought I would be able to use it in the best capacity as a doctor, an eye surgeon."

Chang comes by her math and science ability naturally. Her father, Sherwin, is an engineer; her mother, Unice, an accountant.

She said her parents wanted her sister, Jennifer, 15, to go to Iolani. But Chang herself chose Kaiser, and her parents supported her.

She is on the school's swimming and water polo teams, although an injury has grounded her temporarily.

And she does a lot of community and school service.

"Whenever, whoever, needs help, I'm there." She has volunteered at Queen's Hospital, River of Life Mission and Lunalilo Home.

She's grateful for the Sterling award because Harvard costs "a lot," she said -- $27,000 for tuition and $7,000 for board and room.

The Polynesian Cultural Center started the Sterling Scholar program about 11 years ago with the state Department of Education and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

Awards of $4,000 went to first-place winners in 12 categories, with $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third.

Remaining finalists received $500 U.S. Savings Bonds.

"All of them are winners in every sense of the word," said Lester Moore, president of the Polynesian Cultural Center.

The scholarship program has presented more than $1 million to Hawaii's high school seniors since 1987. It is one of the most comprehensive high school scholarship programs in the country.

Sponsors, besides the center, include the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Coca-Cola, NBC Hawaii News 8, First Hawaiian Bank and DFS Galleria.

Supporting sponsors are Aloha Airlines, BYU-Hawaii, Clarence Lee Design, Harbor Printing, McNeil Wilson Communications Inc., Pizza Hut, Rodeway Inn, Roberts Hawaii, the Schiller Group and Turtle Bay Hilton Golf & Tennis Resort.

Sterling winners Sterling Scholar winners receiving $4,000 for first place, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third are: Business Education -- Jill Keiko Kanda of Waipahu High School, first; Alice H. Park, Moanalua High School, second; Clifton Wei Li Tay, Kauai High & Intermediate School. English -- Nicole Kajiyama, Kahuku High School, first; Muon Thi Van, Farrington High School, second; Emily Chang, Punahou School, third. Family & Consumer Sciences -- Jennifer Chan, Iolani School, first; Caron Ikeda, Konawaena High School, second; Megan K. Paik, Hilo High School, third. Foreign Language -- John Kanda, Leilehua High School, first; Elizabeth Nguyen, Punahou, second; Meghann Schroers, Iolani, third. Hawaiian Studies -- Rebecca Kapolei Kiili, Baldwin High School, first; Maya Lindsley K. Saffery, Kamehameha Schools, second; Hope Pualani McKeen, Hilo High, third. Industrial Arts -- Kazuo S.K.L. Todd, Hilo High, first; Christopher Lee Conboy, Radford High School, second; Gordon Z.H. Deng, Kaimuki High School, third. Mathematics -- Matthew Geballe, Waiakea High School, first; Wendy M. Ching, Moanalua High, second; Cherise Ho, Hanalani Schools, third. Music -- Kenin Coloma, Iolani, first; Blaine Okino, McKinley High School, second; Kristi Lopez, Pearl City High School, third. Science -- Bradley Akitake, Baldwin High, first; Melissa Chee, Mid-Pacific Institute, second; Maura Noriko Takao, Punahou, third. Social Science -- Jennifer Kajiyama, Kahuku High School, first; Taron K. Murakami, Konawaena High, second; Stacy Chang, University Lab School, third. Speech/Drama -- Anna J. Swanson, Moanalua High, first; Jacquelyn Ray, Konawaena High, second; Kristen Jones, Kahuku High, third. Visual Arts -- Micah Ganske, Punahou, first; Christopher Lucero, Radford High, second; Katherine A. Harvey, Aiea High School, third.