Take every opportunity available on campus and try to direct your own education, says Sarah Donnelly, recipient of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 1998-99.

The national Goldwater Scholarship program, honoring the late Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, was designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences. Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of candidates nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

Donnelly, a junior, joined UConn in fall 1995, after graduating from Windham High School. She is currently enrolled in the Honors Program and has an eighth semester standing because of courses she took and transferred from Eastern Connecticut State University while in high school.

"UConn is a good school, relatively inexpensive, close to my home, and both my parents are alumni of UConn graduate programs," Donnelly says.

A Babbidge Scholar, recognized for achieving a 4.0 grade point average in both spring and fall semesters during 1997, Donnelly also received a UConn Foundation Scholarship for 1997, and an Alumni Scholarship for 1997 and 1998.

She is a member of several major honor societies: Alpha Lambda Delta, Golden Key, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Donnelly is taking a double major in math and physics and hopes to graduate next year. She plans to pursue graduate studies in physics and ultimately to teach and do research in theoretical physics.

The scholarship is for one year and will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

This is the third consecutive year that a UConn student has received the Goldwater Scholarship..

Usha R. Palaniswami