2011 PCT PAUL RUBIN SCHOLAR

   Unlike more conventional scholarships, the PCT Paul Rubin Scholarship is not awarded solely on the basis of academic accomplishments. Paul Rubin was  President of the PCT and an social activist who lent his enormous energies in the ongoing struggle to improve the lives of ordinary people. He believed that the greatest pleasures in life come from helping others help themselves and that it is only by engaging others in the common good that we live authentically. The scholarship that bears his name is intended to reward young people who share this vision - to inspire youth to live lives of social conscience and to encourage them to see one's fate as inextricably tied to the others in one's society.  Elizabeth Oh is this year's Rubin Scholar.

   In her essay that accompanied her application for the Rubin Scholarship, Elizabeth discussed her visceral response to her work at Flushing's MinKwon Center, an organization that assists that neighborhood's large immigrant community.  She wrote, "...I started to feel what the purpose of my work was....We were representing the fact that we could make change if united and organized. We were expressing our right to express ourselves and, in turn, affect far-reaching decisions.  We were liberating ourselves."   

   In her thank you note to the trustees of the Rubin Scholarship Fund, Elizabeth wrote, "...I promise to remember the purpose of this scholarship and to realize what responsibilities I have....I truly hope I will not just talk but 'walk the walk' as well, working for what we understand as social justice..."  Those who have worked with Elizabeth know that this is a promise she will keep.

   Elizabeth will be attending Georgetown University in the fall.

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