Opportunities Abound for Marshall Winner Gudzowska

Student Scholar
—————————————————————————

Opportunities Abound for Marshall Winner Gudzowska

BY DAVID KAPLAN

Rice News Staff

Jan. 14, 1998

When Justyna Gudzowska was 9, her father smuggled the family out of Poland and journeyed to America because he wanted his children to have more opportunities in life.

Justyna apparently took advantage of those opportunities: She recently won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship.

One of only 40 students in the United States to receive a Marshall, the Baker College senior will study at Cambridge University for two years beginning in September.

Gudzowska, an economics/German studies double major, says she is excited and nervous about “going to a whole new country by myself, but more excited than nervous.”

Funded by the British government, the Marshall Scholarships provide up to three years’ study at any British university for college graduates from the United States. Candidates are judged on their academic distinction and leadership potential. Gudzowska has a 4.0 + grade point average.

She is also one of the most talented members of the Rice women’s varsity tennis team. At age 15 she was ranked seventh nationally in the U.S.T.A. Junior Circuit (age 16 and under).

Gudzowska, who has spent most of her American life in Houston, says she has received “a great broad education” at Rice and notes that almost all of her classes are small. “I really get to know professors and feel they care about me. For example, I would have never applied for a Marshall Scholarship if a professor had not suggested it.”

Dagobert Brito, the George A. Peterkin Professor of Political Economy, is the teacher who suggested she apply. He notes that when the “very quiet and thoughtful” Gudzowska speaks in class, “what comes out appears to be plain common sense. But when you think about it, you realize she did a lot of deep thinking and has profound insights. She’s very mature intellectually.”

Brito often enters his classroom early to set up his overhead projector and he’ll notice that “most of the students will be talking to each other, but Justyna will be working. To have a four-plus grade point average and train in tennis requires tremendous discipline.”

Head Tennis Coach Paul Blankenship describes Gudzowska as a “smart player who is able to analyze her opponent and make strategic changes during the match.” Gudzowska had a very good fall season, says Blankenship, who notes that she is one of the few players vying for the Number Two position on the women’s tennis team.

She was chosen by her teammates to be their representative to the Student Athletic Committee, and her outstanding grades helped the team win an Academic All-American Team award given by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

“Justyna Gudzowska is an outstanding example of Rice’s combination of academics and athletics,” observes Mark Scheid, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of international programs. “She is on her way to the top economics program in the UK, on the Marshall, the UK’s most academically rigorous post-graduate program,” Scheid says.

After Cambridge, Gudzowska plans to study at a U.S. law school, concentrating on international law. Eventually, she hopes to work in the U.S. State Department in Eastern European Affairs, after completing graduate studies. In recent summers she has volunteered at local retirement homes and interned at Vinson & Elkins.

Gudzowska is Rice’s third Marshall winner in the last four years and its eighth in the last 15.