Celebration Rhodes Scholar Headed For Afghanistan
March 31, 2010 by Jim Siegel
Filed under Around Town
Celebration, Florida, resident Roxanne Bras is another of America’s heroes soon to be deployed to Afghanistan to help fight the War on Terror. But that’s not the only reason for the Town to be proud of her. Having graduated in June with a degree in Economics from Harvard, the second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was recently named a Rhodes Scholar, a first for both Celebration and Osceola County. Following her tour in Afghanistan, she will report to University of Oxford in October to pursue an M.Phil. in international relations, specializing in strategic studies.
After having attended the Celebration K-8 School from 1996 to 2001, Ms. Bras graduated valedictorian from the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program at Kissimmee’s Gateway High School in 2005. While at Gateway, she was on the tennis and cross-country teams. Her mother, Karen Bras, credits the IB Program for “opening up the world” for her daughter, noting that IB commands a lot of respect among Ivy League Schools that otherwise might not consider graduates from high schools in Osceola County. Last year, Celebration High School announced that it would also be offering an IB Program.
Having received a four-year scholarship from the U.S. Army to attend Harvard, Ms. Bras studied the economics of national security, with emphasis on counterinsurgency. Her senior thesis involved the quantitative metrics in counterinsurgency, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. While an ROTC cadet during her freshman year, she met General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, who has been her mentor ever since. In addition to her undergraduate degree, she also earned her second lieutenant’s commission, as well as graduation from the U.S. Army Airborne School and the U.S. Army Air Assault School.
The famous Rhodes Scholarship Program was created in 1904 and is funded by a trust established by Cecil John Rhodes (1853- 1902), a British-born businessman and mining magnate in South Africa, and founder of the DeBeers Diamond Company. Each year, the trust funds nearly one hundred scholarships to Rhodes’ alma mater, University of Oxford, about thirty-two of which are allocated to the United States. This year there were over 800 final applicants for those thirty-two awards. Winners receive up to three years’ of fees and living expenses while in graduate studies at Oxford; by some estimates that’s about $50,000 per year.
Rhodes Scholarships are awarded based on high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential, and physical vigor. Roxanne’s mother noted that her daughter distinguished herself athletically not only as a marathon runner, but also in the airborne and air assault schools. “But the clincher, “ said Karen Bras, “may have been her thesis on counterinsurgency.” The Rhodes Scholarship recipients for 2010 were announced a few days before Thanksgiving, no doubt adding to the blessings for which the family gave thanks.
In a December speech to the Middle School Girls Leadership Forum at All Saints Academy in nearby Winter Haven, Lt. Bras warned the girls against putting too much importance on being a woman. “Don’t try to be the best female president,” she noted, “ … just be the best president.” She emphasized that hard work inside and outside school would some day pay off.
Lt. Bras is currently preparing for deployment at Fort Campbell (KY), and she is scheduled to leave in early February for Afghanistan, where she will serve as a combat engineer before reporting to Oxford in October. She will remain an Army officer while she is studying at Oxford.
Concluded her mother in an exclusive interview, “ We are proud of all our children. We have urged each of them to follow their dreams.”
Originally posted 2010-01-29 11:41:59.
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