University Scholars Program

	Mehmet Yavuz Açikalin (Trinity) Mehmet Yavuz Acikalin is from Ankara, Turkey. He graduated from TEV Inanc Turkes High School in Kocaeli, the only high school for talented and gifted students in Turkey, with an IB diploma. Back in high school, Yavuz acted for the schools only theater group, and he sang for Istanbul Symphony Orchestra in productions like Carmina Burana and Carmen. He received several awards for his theater performances. He also took parts in many activities like Model United Nations Club, Creative Writing, and Finance and Investment. He also volunteered to teach Music and Theater classes to poor kids from a neighboring village. Yavuz is looking forward to majoring in Neuroscience and Economics, also with a minor in Chinese, and he wants to continue his studies on Neuroeconomics after his undergraduate education at Duke.
	Olusegun Isaac Babatunde (Trinity) Segun Babatunde was born and raised in Oregon and received his high school diploma from Clackamas High School. As a student at a large public school, he participated in Student Government, Track and Field, as well as various volunteer work around the area. He has won many awards for Speech and Debate; which include two state championships and nine district championships. Additionally Segun used his summers to do work at his local hospital, which included shadowing an Anesthesiologist. In his spare time Segun enjoys video games, watching sports, and playing sports. At Duke Segun hopes to pursue a pre-med path through psychology and potentially go to Medical School here at Duke as well.
	Yilin Linda Cao (Trinity) Yilin “Linda” Cao (Trinity) was born in Shanghai, China and immigrated to the U.S. when she was five years old. After attending 12 elementary schools in 5 different cities, she was finally able to settle down in Orlando, FL, to graduate from Timber Creek High School. Linda was an avid member of the school's music program, gaining distinctions such as principal clarinetist of the top concert ensemble, clarinet section leader of the marching band, and President of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. She also dedicated her time to organize events like Operation Santa Surprise for underprivileged children. Linda is a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese and aspires to work as a bridge between the two cultures that have defined her life. At Duke, she will be studying Biology and hopefully pursing her interest in Biostatistics.
	Hersh Shailesh Desai (Pratt) Hersh Desai was born in Surat, India but would much rather consider Wilmington, NC as his hometown. He attended New Hanover High School where he graduated as salutatorian. At New Hanover Hersh was involved in many student activities and organizations. He was President of the Math Team, Vice-President of the Student Council Association, goalkeeper for the Varsity Soccer Team, Officer of the Heritage Club, member of Beta Club and National Honor Society. Hersh is also an Eagle Scout and also spent much time volunteering at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. He won many awards during his high school career in various math competitions, was a National Merit Finalist, and a National AP Scholar. Hersh has a passion in renewable energy that he hopes to explore at Duke. He is planning on pursuing a biomedical engineering degree with a finance minor while also following a Pre-Med track. He hopes to meaningfully impact the world in a positive way.
	Yihan Fan (Trinity) Yihan Fan is born a city girl but loves nature. She connects to nature by Taiji, which she was delighted to be selected by her mentor who not only teaches her the moves but also how to coordinate them with the universe. Coming from Beijing, China, she went to an international school which fostered a sense of cultural tolerance, respect, and curiosity. This multi-cultral experience gradually lead her to Duke University. Inspired to learn more about her own roots, Yihan transferred to a public Chinese middle&high school to know more about her Chinese heritage. She enjoyed exploring the different streams of ancient philosophy and arts. She was enthralled by the Qin zither (which has 5000 years of history) and has adopted her instrument to be a big component of her life. Yihan also started learning Beijing Opera at age 9, and eagerly introduces to people this form of art which is at risk of dying out. After translating a book by Dr. Jane Goodall she became a vegetarian. Her vision of the environment, the ecosystem and us living beings is that we are all inter-related. Her goal is to explore the connection among different cultures, arts, fields, and people. She is considering humanities (Cultural Anthropology and 6 other fields) and Environmental Science.
	Jordan Fraser (Trinity) Jordan Fraser is a graduate of Lower Canada College in Montreal, Canada, where he was active in student leadership, assuming the roles of Arts Head, captain and coach of varsity swimming, chair of the Destiny Quebec Conference for global awareness, and representative on the Pre-University Council. Jordan is an avid musician and has played piano, tenor saxophone and oboe in various ensembles. He also has a passion for the creation and consumption of food and is particularly well known for his cheesecake brownies. He has spent his summers coaching his community swim team and learning Italian. Jordan is interested in the study of neuroscience, languages and philosophy at Duke and hopes to eventually pursue research in neuroscience at the graduate level.
	Christopher-Marcus Gibson (Trinity), I am Christopher-Marcus Gibson, a Raleigh native and graduate of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, NC, where I served as editor-in-chief of the school's literary magazine and also founded the Cardinal Gibbons Theology Roundtable, a discussion group dedicated to philosophical and theological argument and their application to current events and life issues. In January 2009 I was awarded the grand prize in the Aldus Books National Essay Contest for my argument on the subject of Old Testament fundamentalism. I also received the Margaret Hedrick Long Memorial Scholarship from my high school for my academic and extracurricular accomplishment. My interests include reading, writing, philosophy, theology, economics, language, film, and classical music. While at Duke I hope to pursue my passion for philosophy, theology, and writing with greater intensity, as well as to build the foundation for my future career in relation to those fields.
	Palden Gyal (Trinity) Palden Gyal was born in Tibet, but he escaped into India as a young student to study in Tibetan Village Schools under the Exile Tibetan Government. There he studied for eight years until he received a scholarship to do International Baccalaureate diploma in Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway for two years. He is a poet and an active blogger for various causes, ranging from human rights to environmental issues as he has been an active member of Amnesty International Norway and also a member of Duke Human Rights Center. In 2009, he bagged the Third Prize in the Sixth Edition of International Poetry Competition in Duino , Italy among participants over a thousand from 90 different countries. He continues writings poems and has joined the newly found Duke Creative Writing Group. His academic interest lies in political science, public diplomacy and philosophy.
	Albert Hu (Pratt) Albert is a graduate of Northern Secondary School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During high school, Albert participated in the Canadian Physics and Chemistry Olympiad program. He was ranked first in national physics competitions three times and top in chemistry contests. As the founder and president of his school's robotics team, Albert also led the team to winning awards regionally. He currently holds one patent and another pending patent in publication. Albert was also a lifeguard, a band member, a columnist, a Lieutenant Governor's Community Volunteer and an officer of municipal student council and youth council. In his high school senior year, Albert completed his first research experience at the University of Toronto studying laser photo-thermal non-destructive diagnostics of engineering materials. Albert is now planning to study biomedical engineering at Duke and hopes to extend the benefits of advanced engineering to everyone in need.
	Paul Thomas Wright (Trinity) Paul Wright was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to the states when he was five. In his years at Raleigh Charter High School, he developed a passion for photography and would frequently borrow his art teacher's camera to go on weekend photography expeditions. Enthusiastic for travel, Paul has also attended high school in Japan and lived with a Finnish host family over his high school career. Though he has always enjoyed art, foreign languages, and creative writing, he is looking into a possible future in neuroscience at Duke. While in foreign countries, he grew to enjoy cycling and running around the city. Although he used to play soccer for over ten years, now he more enjoys cross-country. Paul is currently poking around with Photoshop and learning how to create animations.