By Susan T. Port
For the Daily
Between studying for classes, working 30 hours a week, leading student organizations and playing the piano, LSA senior Heather Stoll also found time to capture one of the nation's most coveted scholarships.
Stoll is one of 40 students nationwide who will travel and study in England next fall as a Marshall Scholar.
The scholarship, which is funded by the British government, will send Stoll to Oxford University for two years.
Political science Prof. John Campbell nominated Stoll for the scholarship and described her as "one of the best students I have ever encountered."
Zach Levey, another political science professor, also nominated Stoll for the scholarship. Stoll was in three of Levey's classes, yet he said it took a while before he noticed her.
"She sat in the back of the class, and on occasion would answer a question," Levey said. "She never tried to dominate a class discussion."
Stoll caught Levey's attention when she wrote a paper on ethnopolitics in the Middle East.
"(It was) exceptional work at the undergraduate level," Levey said.
Levey described Stoll as an "intellectual prodigy at the age of 20."
Stoll described her life as "very hectic." She said she works 25-30 hours a week managing research-based contract work for an engineering firm in order to support herself through college.
Campbell said he is amazed at how "she manages to do all of this and still get her work done."
Stoll said she enjoys carrying a heavy workload.
"My conception of busy most would find intolerable," Stoll said. "I like to be busy."
When she has free time, Stoll skis and writes poetry, some of which has been published. She also has played the piano for 16 years.
Music senior John Barry, a close friend of Stoll's, said Stoll is not just a "bookworm," but she also likes to have fun.
"I see her as much as a student as she enjoys spending time with her friends," Barry said. "She gets a lot more done than the rest of us."
A double concentrator in political science and economics, Stoll plans to graduate this spring, three years after she enrolled.
Stoll received the Harry S. Truman scholarship last year for her outstanding leadership potential in government and public service.
She served as director of the University's Model United Nations and is currently director of the Mid-American Global Education Council - a program that hosts three model United Nations conferences for high school students.
At Oxford University, Stoll said she plans to receive a master's degree in politics.
"I want to be a professor at the university level," Stoll said.
Levey said Stoll has the potential to make a significant impact.
"I think it is pretty clear at this early stage this is someone who will leave her mark in any field she pursues," Levey said.
Campbell said Stoll's thought process is complex and deep.
"She has a remarkable breadth of knowledge, which is unusual for an undergraduate," Campbell said. "Heather has an unusual ability to theorize."
Though Stoll said she's excited to go abroad, she admits to having some anxiety. "I have never been abroad before," Stoll said. "I am very nervous about going away."
Barry said he admires Stoll's constant determination.
"I have never met anyone like her," Barry said. "Heather is amazingly driven. She has remarkable focus."
AJA DEKLEVA COHEN/Daily
LSA senior Heather Stoll, who recently won the Marshall Scholarship, stands in the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library yesterday. Stoll will spend the next two years studying at Oxford University in England.