HARTFORD, CT, December 19, 2011 – Nichola Clark came to Trinity in September 2008 from Arkansas, not knowing whether she would fit in at a small liberal arts college in New England. She’ll graduate in May having left an indelible mark as a scholar, campus and environmental activist, and a finalist for one of the most prestigious academic awards in the world: the Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England.
Although Clark was not chosen as one of 32 U.S. students to receive a Rhodes Scholarship in 2012, she was among an elite group of 170 scholars to make it to the final round, an honor in and of itself.
Clark is not deflated or discouraged at having gone through the grueling application and interview process only to come away a non-winner. On the contrary, she is as focused and determined as ever to pursue graduate studies and ultimately a career in marine policy.
Her back-up plan, as she puts it, is to study next year at the Australian National Center for Ocean Resources and Security Studies, a leading provider of research, education and training, and authoritative policy-related advice on ocean law and governance, maritime security and marine resources and management. However, she hasn’t ruled out applying to other graduate programs as well, with the eventual goal of obtaining a Ph.D.
Why marine policy? As she explained in her essay for the Rhodes Scholarship: “I became aware of the urgent necessity of marine conservation efforts…during the screening of the documentary The End of the Line when I heard the narrator state that ‘scientists have projected that if the current [fishing] trends continue, the stocks of fish which we now eat will have collapsed by the middle of the century.’ 2048 to be exact. Not only will I still be alive in 2048, I will still be working in 2048. My generation is the last one that can remedy this desperate situation, and I am resolved to do just that.”
Clark is not daunted by the prospect of exploring the unknown. Coming from Conway High School in Conway, Arkansas, where she was class valedictorian, Clark knew that she wanted to attend a liberal arts college similar to the one where her parents worked, Hendrix College, but that she also wanted to “get out of the south and experience a different culture.”
She enrolled at Trinity after the College made her a Presidential Scholar and because the Chapel made a huge impression on her. Clark’s father, Wayne, is the chaplain at Hendrix, and her mother, Rynette, works in the education department.
In her Rhodes Scholarship essay, Clark wrote, “Growing up on the campus of one of the only liberal arts colleges in [Arkansas], I developed ideas and beliefs that often differed from those of high school classmates and extended family members. When I began applying to colleges, I looked north. While my grandparents were not thrilled that I was going to college in Connecticut, I had their blessing as long as I did not ‘become one of those damned Yankees’ and agreed to return home and marry a nice southern boy.”
Although it took Clark a year or so to adjust to Trinity, she says “she really found herself in her sophomore year,” particularly regarding academic life and the English department, which she describes as “phenomenal.”
But, as outstanding a student as she is, Clark hasn’t been content just to benefit from her classroom experience. She spent the summer of 2009 studying marine protected areas in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It was, as she recalls, “a life-changing experience.” The Caribbean beckoned again last summer, when Clark conducted research in The Bahamas on the poisonous lionfish, considered an invasive species.
A self-described Anglophile, having visited England several times, Clark spent her junior year abroad, studying ethics, environmental policy and English literature at Oxford, where among other exciting endeavors she had a chance to play trumpet as a member of the Oxford Brass Band for Prime Minister David Cameron. Clark was an All-State trumpet player in Arkansas and currently plays with the University of Hartford Capital Winds.
In addition to her academics and music, Clark is a community activist, traveling to Vermont after Tropical Storm Irene to participate in cleanup activities; going to Trinidad and Tobago to work in an orphanage where the children have HIV/AIDS; and founding an organization called the January Experience of Living and Learning and Outreach (JELLO), which performs community service such as combatting hunger and homelessness in Washington D.C.
With a resume as sterling as that, it should come as no surprise that Clark was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and best known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates. The award was created in 1902 by British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes.
Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process. First, candidates must be endorsed by their college or university. This year, more than 2,000 students sought their institution’s endorsement; 830 were supported; and 170 scholars were chosen to be interviewed by eight-member committees in each of 16 U.S. districts.
According to The Rhodes Trust, the criteria for selection are “high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership, and physical vigor.”
Clark chose to compete in a region that included the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and South Carolina, and had her interview in St. Louis. Each of the finalists was allotted 30 minutes and after all of the interviews were completed, the finalists were confined in a room for five hours, waiting to be told which two had won.
Clark said she wasn’t particularly nervous during the interview. “The best advice I got was to be myself. I felt that I couldn’t have done a better job. It went as well as could be expected.”
Of participating in the process even though she didn’t win, Clark said, “I have no regrets.”