Yelena Olevskaia
Myself Third Spirit of New York 2002 Scholarship Winner
Fort Hamilton High School
Kingsborough Community College
"It was my extreme pleasure to have Yelena Olevskaia as a student in my Honors Biology class.… In a class full of outstanding students, she stood apart as truly exceptional. Yelena displayed a level of intellectual maturity and seriousness of purpose that are rare, even in graduate students. She had the ability to see the point in any discussion of even the most complex biological concepts. She was able to express her understanding extremely clearly and concisely.… Yelena is destined to be an outstanding student of science, in whatever direction she chooses to go."
—Andrew Pessen, Science Teacher
Work, Volunteer, and Extra-Curricular Activities
- Maimonides Medical Center
- Fort Hamiliton Future Business Leaders of America Club
- Fort Hamiliton Math Team
- Fort Hamiliton National Honor Society
- Semi-Annaul Fort Hamilton Denyse Wharf Clean-Up
Excerpts from Yelena's Essay
Civic responsibility is the responsibility that people have to their surrounding communities. It's what you do to benefit and help either one member of your community, your whole community, your borough, your city, or your country.… It is the tree you plant, the fence you paint, the children to whom you read after school; it's the litter that you do not throw on the ground. It's the actions that you do to benefit people around you.
My experience with civic responsibility was during the Fort Hamilton Semi-Annual Denyse Wharf Clean-Up. Denyse Wharf is a tiny beach in Bay Ridge, located under the Verrazzano Bridge.… I used to pass Denyse Wharf often when jogging or roller-blading, and noticed all kinds of garbage from dry branches to tires and refrigerators.… When my science research class went to clean up the beach, it was a very fulfilling experience, working with my classmates and being able to see the results right on the spot. And later passing that spot and seeing all the results of the work was wonderful. Although just cleaning up that territory was helpful, the true service lay behind the fact that serious involvement with that area by our school and the student body will allow that area, one day in the not so distant future, to be converted into a marine science lab. The lab would serve the community by providing the children with a hands-on place; it would also be a bridge to the ocean, since Fort Hamilton High School has yet to find access to water.
But the most gratifying moment was when I was passing by Denyse Wharf about two weeks after the second clean up, and I saw a mother and a child looking at the seagulls who were feeding on the beach during low tide, while the little girl was eating a candy bar. Observing, I noticed how the mother did not let the girl throw down the wrapper. It was wonderful knowing that one act to help the community can have such a web-like chain of effects and be appreciated by the people. That was the time that made me realize and experience firsthand that one person with just a single action or a choice can make a real difference. That realization made me rethink my future.… Now I know I can always make a difference and serve the community and the world in the long run, no matter how small or grand my contributions, as long as they are positive.
