King's student selected for ISI Honors Program

Of the approximately 50 students chosen nationally for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) Undergraduate Honors Program, King’s junior Rebecca Au placed among them.

After receiving encouragement from a former King’s classmate and ISI fellow, Rachelle DeJong ('13, Valedictorian) to apply, Au was accepted into the program. Within the non-profit group's program, selected  college students from around the country participate in a themed week-long summer conference and are assigned an academic mentor. Au's mentor, philosophy professor, Molly Flynn (Assumption College), offers what Au explained as “a little more guidance on my academic questions.”

“I was certainly pleased and honored,” Au said of receiving the news that she’d been chosen. “ISI fellows have gone really far.”

DeJong now works with the National Association of Scholars, and said she was impressed by Au’s “curiosity and insight" when posing and answering questions in class.

“ISI looks for bright, eager, hard-working individuals with strong principle,” DeJong said.“It's a phenomenal way for students to meet top-notch scholars and teachers, as well as interact with like-minded students and discuss important topics of philosophy and culture,” she said.

Au is pursuing her undergrad in Media, Culture and the Arts, and though she isn’t quite sure what career she would like to eventually pursue, she is confident that her involvement in ISI will help her.

Based on friend she made at the conference, Au is now more connected to the world of academia. “They’re preparing us for a wide variety of careers," she said.

DeJong agreed that the connections made through ISI are very useful to one’s future job. She became more aware of research happening, institutions being formed or restarted and key individuals who lead the programs.

“My ISI peers are starting journals and literary reviews, building campus networks that defend the sanctity of marriage, attending prestigious law schools and grad programs, and working at think tanks and institutions that influence our society," DeJong said. "Being around eager, diligent, intelligent people prods one to keep working and thinking and writing."

Au said she has an interest in teaching English overseas.

“[The program has] definitely given me a deep appreciation for piety,” she said. “It helped me to appreciate the contributions of the past and it’s also made me more aware of what I have to give.”