Add one more academic laurel to those on the heads of Heidi Williams '03 and Kate Szilagyi '03, and these two senior women may have trouble seeing the road ahead of them.
Even a blind man, however, can make out that their futures are bright.
Last week, national newspaper USA Today named the two freshman year roommates to its annual All-USA College Academic teams. The student recognition program run by the paper recognizes 19 undergraduate students on its First Team, of which Williams was named a member.
Szilagyi, named to the 20-person Third Team, was selected from over 500 undergraduate students up for the three teams.
A psychology major and early Phi Beta Kappa recipient, Szilagyi has long been involved in helping others as an Eating Disorders Peer Advisor and as the intern for the Sexual Abuse Awareness program.
"I'm passionate about promoting awareness about women's issues," said Szilagyi. "It amazes me that people just don't want to recognize that these issues exist; mainly I just want this campus to be and feel safe for every person."
She furthered this interest in human interactions by co-authoring a paper last year on morality among Bosnian students with Nicki Leiser '02 and Professor Andrew Garrod of the education department. The paper was presented at last year's Association of Moral Education's annual conference.
This past December, Szilagyi accompanied Garrod to Bosnia to study faith and forgiveness among the young people of Bosnia and Herzegovina -- a trip, she said, which enforced her belief "that our world is not everything. We can really learn a lot from other cultures."
The Pittsford, NY, native calls her junior year Tucker fellowship in the Dominican Republic "a revolution" in her life at Dartmouth.
"My freshman and sophomore years, I felt like I didn't have much direction. I was frustrated, because I felt like the 'ordinary' Dartmouth student -- I felt sort of passive and like I wasn't doing anything that I really loved," Szilagyi said.
Her work in the Dominican Republic teaching students in a Spanish-speaking school "felt so meaningful in comparison to everything I was doing at Dartmouth."
The one-time vice president and current member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority said she has no set plans upon graduating this spring, though she plans eventually to attend graduate school in psychology and hopes to work at the university level studying women's and adolescent's issues.
Szilagyi said she was "shocked," to discover she had been nominated to the Third Team, and said she thought her application would be "a shot in the dark."
Upon hearing she'd secured the spot, however, Szilagyi said she felt a sense of accomplishment. "I suppose it was the first time that I really realized that the work I did in the past year or so has been so unique. It also felt like recognition of what I'm passionate about," she said.
As Szilagyi jokes, there must have been something in the water her freshman year, as both she and her freshman year roommate, Williams, were nominated to All-USA College teams.
A North Dakota native and one of Dartmouth's resident math whizzes, Williams has been working to improve the relationship between women and the sciences since she arrived at Dartmouth almost four years ago.
As part of her Presidential Scholarship independent study program, Williams spearheaded the Sister-to-Sister Conference last year, which brought 110 middle school-age girls to Dartmouth from eight local schools to discuss educational equality.
In addition, she is active in the Women in Science Project and says she enjoys working with matters of equality "against a backdrop of problems that girls face during adolescence, such as self-esteem and body image."
While working on her academic pursuits, Williams also found time at Dartmouth to be a tutor at the Composition Center as well as take ballet classes.
Already a published author by the time she matriculated, with her research paper on the German Enigma code in the national journal Cryptologia, Williams is one of the most highly-decorated students at Dartmouth.
She was a recipient of the Truman Scholar award last year, which doles out $30,000 to students interested in careers in government and nonprofit areas.
This year, Williams outdid herself, garnering one of 32 internationally-awarded American Rhodes scholarships.
Both of those awards, and the $2,500 she will receive from USA Today as a member of the First Team, will go to further her education, Williams said.
"I apply for every scholarship I can find -- large or small -- in an attempt to cover what I can of my Dartmouth tuition costs," she said.
Unlike many of the students considered for the USA Today awards, including Szilagyi, Williams initiated the process on her own, without encouragement from the College, though Dartmouth did formally approve her application.
Interestingly, Williams's GPA, published in USA Today along with that of the other 60 team members, is among the lowest of all three teams, which goes to show that grades are not the most essential part of a candidate's application -- that numbers may play less of a role than character.
In Williams's case, her friendly and selfless personality may have contributed to her receipt of such high academic honors. Friends described Williams in a previously-published article in The Dartmouth as "disciplined and unselfish," a generous spirit who always makes time for her friends.
Williams herself has encouraged students applying for academically-rigorous scholarships like the Rhodes and the Truman to not concentrate on grades as a definitive aspect of their application, noting that it is much better to be a well-rounded candidate.
After graduation, Williams will head to the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, where she plans to continue her current studies in mathematics. Though she is unsure of what precise course of study she will pursue, she said she will begin her Ph.D. studies a few years from now.
"I intend to spend my life making contributions to the world of research, leading students to discover passions for their own pursuits through education and working towards positive change in areas of public policy," Williams said.
She cited a desire to "work towards positive change" in her community as one of her main goals.
Both Williams and Szilagyi said they were thrilled and honored to be assembled with the caliber of students on the USA Today's teams.
"These students are incredible leaders in an incredible number of diverse areas, and many of them inspire me to push myself even more in my own pursuits," said Williams.
