Tuesday, April 26, 2005 10:29 AM

A Scholarship to be Proud of
By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer
KAHULUI

A single mother of two who is a student at Maui Community College was surprised Monday with news she had been chosen to receive a prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship.

Krista Jo Dusek, 36, of Waiehu had tears in her eyes as she accepted the award from MCC Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto in a presentation at the Class Act Restaurant campus.

The scholarship provides Dusek with as much as $30,000 per year for tuition fees and books and a portion of her housing and transportation expenses. The amount she receives from her scholarship depends on the costs of her education.

Dusek, a straight-A student, was selected from among 791 students nominated by 519 community and two-year colleges across the country. Only 25 recipients were chosen.

“This is sort of like getting a Rhodes scholarship,” said Lee Stein, Dusek’s mentor and human services instructor.

“She’s an exceptional woman in every way,” Stein said Monday as she watched about 25 friends, family and MCC staff members congratulate Dusek with hugs and lei.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Dusek told the crowd.

She had been called to the campus restaurant Monday to have a cup of coffee with Sakamoto. He just had accompanied Dusek on a trip to Boston, where she was honored as one of 20 members of USA Today’s All-USA Community and Junior College Academic First Team. There were about 1,500 associate’s degree candidates nominated nationwide for the honor.

Dusek thought that Sakamoto wanted to talk to her about the trip. Instead, he led the group in raising glasses of nonalcoholic champagne to toast Dusek and her accomplishments.

Dusek gave credit to Stein and other teachers who’ve helped her through her studies at MCC.

“I think I’ve been blessed with some really great instructors. Some of them have gone out of their way to motivate and inspire me,” she said.

Because institutions review on average more than three candidates internally before submitting their nominees, the number of students considered for the Jack Kent Cooke award totaled in the thousands.

No scholarship available to community college students is larger or one involves such intense competition, officials said.

“This is a big deal,” Sakamoto said. “It’s good for kids in Hawaii to know they can achieve national recognition.”

Dusek also has been awarded the University of Hawaii Presidential Scholarship and has been given the title “2005 New Century Scholar” for Hawaii, ranking No. 1 in the state for a national Coca-Cola Scholarship.

All these scholarship winnings mean Dusek can concentrate on her studies and spend time with her 15-year-old son, AJ, and 7-year-old daughter, Caitlin, instead of worrying about finances and their well-being.

The family will move to Oahu, where Dusek intends to enroll at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to pursue a bachelor’s degree in social work, and hopes to follow with a master’s degree in the same discipline.

She said she hopes to earn an internship at either the Department of Human Services or at the state Legislature.

Aside from attending school and raising children, Dusek has served as coordinator of the Mobile Dental Van, which serves Maui’s indigent and uninsured.

She also volunteers as president of the Maui Community College Human Services Club, which has taken on fund-raisers to support indigent people who need oral surgery that cannot be provided at the dental van.

She also has worked as regional representative for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter at MCC. Adviser Renee Adams applauded Dusek for her achievements.

“She’s got the right combination, a stellar student,” Adams said. The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at MCC nominated Dusek for the All-USA academic first team. She’s the first student at MCC to win the award.

“We know we have good students. Just to get national recognition is incredible,” Adams said.

Dusek’s mother, Irene Ramos, and stepfather, Pete, were on hand to congratulate her.

“It’s unbelievable. I can’t quite grasp this,” Irene Ramos said.

She said the entire family regularly attends services at Grace Bible Church and has been praying that Dusek would get the Jack Kent Cooke award.

“God answered our prayers. . . . I’m so sad she’s leaving, but God’s got something great planned for her,” Ramos said.

Dusek said she’s struggled through many personal difficulties and has earned her way through college by working on the dental van and in the financial aid office at MCC.

She developed a close friendship with Shauna Stroisch, a fellow student assistant in the financial aid office. Stroisch encouraged Dusek to enroll at UH-Manoa and was present Monday to congratulate her on the award.

“We inspire each other a lot,” Dusek said.

Stroisch initially had planned to go with Dusek to Oahu for studies, but she now plans to stay on Maui to pursue other things.

“I’ve always believed she can do better, and she’s going to,” Stroisch said about Dusek.

The Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Foundation created its program to “make sure financial obstacles do not prevent high-achieving community college students from advancing their education and pursuing their dreams,” said Matthew J. Quinn, the foundation’s executive director. “These 25 students are among the finest students in the country, at any institution.”

The 25 men and women selected this year bring the number to 161 students who have received undergraduate scholarships since the foundation first offered them in 2002. Through the scholarships, the foundation offers support for tuition, room and board, books and other required fees for the remainder of the Jack Kent Cooke scholar’s bachelor’s degree, generally two or three years.

Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.