Joseph Lawrence Chow Scholarship

Last night Kyle handed out the first Joseph Lawrence Chow Scholarship at an awards ceremony. Daniel was at the ceremony also, Ray and I could not attend. There were 11 applicants, all of them with amazing recommendations, grades and activities -it was a hard choice to select one for the scholarship. Great kids. This was the descripiton of Joseph that was sent with the scholarship.
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This scholarship is established to honor the life of Joseph Lawrence Hai-Sung Chow by helping students who share his values and passions. Joseph died at 23 in a sudden and tragic accident which cut short a life full of promise.

Joseph was a graduate of Fordham Prep and Amherst College. He planned to attend medical school when he returned home. He was in the final weeks of a two year tour with the Peace Corps of Tanzania where he was the only math and science teacher. The plan was for him to teach only Chemistry (he had no teacher training at all). When he got to his school there was no one to teach advanced math or physics and a demand for it, so he volunteered to teach those classes. too. He won an award from the Tanzanian Govenrment for the tremendous improvement in his schools performance in science.

Joseph was an accomplished musician, praciticing either classical piaon or organ for at least an hour a day. He swam competitively most of his life, as a varsity athlete all four years at Fordham Prep and at Amherst. He was a starter on the Amherst water polo team. He was not able to continue swimming competitively in Africa, so he took up running. He ran to Mt. Killamanjaro marathon, passing many other Peace Corps volunteers who had run for years. When Joseph decided to do something he gave it his whole heart and mind, whether it was something God had given him natural talent for, like the piano, or something he had to work at, like running. As one of his Amherst firends wrote: "... although he was never the fastest swimmer, he was far and away the most determined. He was a unifying force on the team and his dedication was a critical part of the team's success. Joe's enthusiasim was ubiquitous; he always gave 110% and drove everyone else to do the same."

According to his application to the Peace Corps his goals were to experience another cutlure and to make a difference. Within two years he had taught himself Swahili. He started an HIV/AIDS awareness club and ran fundraisers. When his family visited he proudly showed them around his village where he was greeted by his neighbors. Then he went with his brothers and climbed to the highest peak on the continent, Mt. Killamanjaro. The Peace Corps in their press release wrote that "Joseph not only adapted to his new surroundings, he flourished."

Jospeh's desire to serve was nurtured by his family, his schooling and his faith. All were fundamental to who he was. The overwhelming oupouring of affection and respect that followed Joseph's death was awe inspiring. And this scholarship is a concrete example of that outpourng since it is funded by donations "in lieu of flowers" that were made by more than 350 people. We hope that the recipeints will understand that this benefit results directly from who Joseph was and that they will stirve to be like him.