Student Spotlight: Jacquelyn Farnholtz

Congratulations to Jacqui, this year's outstanding graduating senior in history! As a serious student of history, she is a delight to have in class; it’s clear that she seeks to gain as much out of her classes as she possibly can. Her strong overall GPA testifies to her commitment to excel academically.

Dr. Oliver Rink has known Jacqui since she began her studies at CSUB in winter 2005, and offers the following praise: “I have had the pleasure of teaching Jacquelyn Farnholtz in three courses. In each of them she stood out for her intelligence, hard work, and excellent writing. I could always count on Jacqui to have the answer to a discussion question, even when others squirmed in their seats lest I call on them. In senior seminar her analysis of our common readings was always sophisticated and spot on. Her paper was well researched, clearly argued, and persuasive. On the basis of her work for me, I have encouraged her to go to graduate school and pursue a Ph.D. in history.”

As impressive as her academic achievement, however, is her ability to accomplish this while routinely working up to 50 hours a week. She has been going to school full time and in summers in order to complete her degree in four years. Her own hard work and success have inspired her to encourage other young people to enroll in college. As a store manager, she works with many college-age employees and has counseled and guided several of them in enrolling at BC, even helping them fill out their FAFSA forms. Having suffered a certain amount of adolescent turmoil, Jacqui, now a very mature 22-year-old, hopes to inspire others to overcome whatever difficulties they face and get a college education. Counseling helped her work through some difficult times as a teenager and then seize the opportunity to move forward: “[I] realized that life and education are a gift that is usually given only once. I survived when I shouldn’t have, and decided to take the rest of my life seriously and pursue every dream I could to prove to the world that I deserved my second chance.”

Jacqui plans to work on a single subject teaching credential next year, but after some encouragement from several history faculty, she thinks she'd also like to pursue history at the graduate level.

Back to Spring 2006 Newsletter!