Throughout high school, Simon Gordonov heard stories about fellow Hightstown graduate Randal Pinkett and his prestigious award — the Rhodes Scholarship.
Each year, the scholarship provides American students with the opportunity to study his or her subject of choice at Oxford for at least one year.
Pinkett, a Rutgers graduate and former track star, was the first black student from the school to win the award when he did so in 1994 for his work in electrical engineering and computer science.
“To continue in his legacy is really a great honor for me,” Gordonov said. “I’m very excited about it.”
After reaching the final 14 in the running for the Rhodes Scholarship, it may be hard to believe that just a few years back it was all but a distant thought to Gordonov.
“I didn’t even think I’d be anywhere close to reaching this stage, let alone even applying,” he said.
But as the years passed at RU, the senior heard more and more about the award and a scholarship director encouraged him to apply.
For Gordonov, the scholarship particularly interested him because of the magnitude of Oxford’s biomedical engineering institute, which would help him further his knowledge on the subject.
“Oxford has a biomedical engineering institute that is world renowned and they are doing really good research in biomedical imaging, which interests me,” he said. “I’d really like to go over there and see how research is being done in the United Kingdom because it’s completely different.”
Biomedical imaging involves the analysis of images of the body in order to diagnose illness.
Whether or not he will get the opportunity to dive further into biomedical research at Oxford will be determined Saturday.
It is then that each candidate for the Rhodes Scholarship goes through an interview process around 20 minutes long, followed by a lunch period where the committee deliberates over who they want to select.
Those selected are called in for a follow-up interview, after which another deliberation period takes place, followed by the results of who won.
“There are not many people who get the opportunity to go to the Rhodes finals so it’s really a great honor for me,” Gordonov said. “It would really be a fantastic achievement.”
If he does win, it would be the second consecutive year a student-athlete received the scholarship. Florida State football player Myron Rolle chose to forgo the NFL draft to pursue a master’s degree in medical anthropology at Oxford after his victory last year.
But whether Gordonov wins or not, one thing is for sure: The rest of the Rutgers men’s cross country team will not be far from his mind this weekend.
The fact that Saturday’s IC4A Championships — which take place during Gordonov’s interview — would have been the last collegiate cross country race of his career presented him with somewhat of an internal dilemma.
“I’ve been with this team for the past four years and this is the final race for a lot of us seniors, so it’s kind of a bittersweet moment,” he said.
However bittersweet it may be, that dilemma did not stop him from going after the opportunity to win one of the most prestigious academic awards out there.
“Unfortunately, sometimes the stars just don’t align properly and you have conflicting schedules,” Gordonov said.
What once appeared to be a feat that was impossible to fathom — let alone be a part of — is now a reality for him.
Since he has accomplished this challenge, Gordonov has become a firm believer that regardless of how hard an opportunity appears, one must jump on the chance as soon as possible.
“A lot of students think that they’re not good enough to apply for something but you’ve always got to seize the opportunity when it comes,” Gordonov said. “If you don’t try, you’ll never win. It really opens a lot of doors for you.”
Gordonov hopes to make impossible possible
Senior runner finalist for prestigious Rhodes Scholarship
Published: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 21:11
2 comments
This is not to take anything away from Mr. Gordonov -- more power to him: Rutgers has won only two Rhodes Scholarships in its 243-year history, while Harvard routinely gets between two and five PER YEAR: having him win would at least make RU look a bit more respectable academically than it does in the days of Lawrence and McCormick -- but it is to remark that the story shows all the usual signs of Targum ignorance and general cluelessness. To call Mr. Gordonov a "Rhodes Scholar finalist" is like calling a movie that gets a good review in the Medium an "Oscar nominee."
If Mr. Gordonov receives the state nomination in RU's region, that will indeed be an honor, both for him and the university, whether or not he goes on to win a Rhodes. But until then let's put a lid on the hype. It makes Rutgers looks ignorant, presumptuous, and stupid.