Colleges," "All-USA Academic Team Recognition,"
"English," "Creative Writing," "Psychology,"
"International Student Association," and the "James B.
Allen Outstanding Student" Awards (whew!) in your
school's Honors Day yesterday.
We're proud of you!
M Santos
Top Bishop students announced
Winner, runner-up bring international perspective
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
By MAURICE GANDY
Correspondent
Competition for Bishop State Community College's top academic award took on an international flavor in 2007-2008.
Djon Iva de Jesus Santos, who was born in the Philippines, was recently announced as the winner of the James Browning Allen Award and Christine Franceschini Hansen, who was born in Puerto Rico, was runner-up, according to Terry Hazzard, dean of students at BSCC.
Established in 1966 by the families of the late U.S. Sen. James B. Allen of Alabama, and Jack L. Ray, chairman and CEO of the Exchange Bank of Alabama in memory of the two men, the award recognizes academic achievement and service and is given annually in community colleges in the state, said Hazzard.
The BSCC technical school has a separate award.
Santos was born in Las Pinas City, near Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and lived there for 14 years. English, rather than the native Filipino dialect, was her first language. Her father always believed that she would not stay in the islands but move to the U.S. for better opportunities, she added.
The Filipino method of schooling was much more disciplined than in the United States and quality was high, she said: "We were definitely not given the choice of classes. The administration decided our curriculum at the private Catholic school I attended." Students rose at 3 or 4 in the morning and school started at 7 and ended at 5 in the afternoon.
Santos' father, Adonis P. Santos, moved to Mobile from the Philippines in 2001 to work as an aeronautics engineer specialist at Mobile Aerospace. Santos, her mother, Josephine, and younger sister, Jan-Dominique, followed in 2002 and took up residence in Warren, Mich., to stay a time with extended family there.
Santos went to high school in Michigan for three years, graduating magna cum laude in 2005. She moved to Mobile and enrolled at Bishop State in the spring of 2006, choosing the community college because of convenience and lower cost than four-year schools, she said.
Santos had considered graphic design as a career. In her senior year of high school, however, she took courses in forensics and psychology, began watching "Law and Order" on TV and decided that working for the FBI as a forensic psychologist would be "cool."
She has worked during her two years at the school as a peer tutor in the main campus learning lab.
Santos' list of academic accomplishments is impressive: 4.0 GPA, summa cum laude graduate, president's academic achievement list honoree, a member of the two-year college All-Alabama Academic Team and recipient of a scholarship for that selection.
She has been vice president of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, the largest community/junior college academic honorary in the United States, according to the PTK Web site; and a member of Sigma Kappa Delta English Honor Society.
The honor graduate will attend the University of South Alabama in the fall, concentrating on programs in forensics and psychology.
She is fluent in English and Filipino, with a basic knowledge of Spanish and Japanese.
Her goal, said Santos, is to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
"I miss my Filipino culture very much, but there are definitely more opportunities for the future here," she said.
Filipino families in the Mobile area meet once a month for fellowship and a Catholic Mass in Filipino. "My background in my native country doesn't define me solidly as who I am, but it is part of my personality," she noted. "I want to keep some of that culture and background alive for the rest of my life."
Hansen was born Christina Franceschini in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1980. Her parents brought her from the U.S. commonwealth when she was 6. Hansen said she has fond memories, especially of times with her grandparents and cousins.
She came with her mother and father, Hector and Carmen (now divorced) when her father, a chemical engineer, was transferred by his company. The family lived for four years in Victoria, Texas, then moved to Mobile when she was in the fourth grade.
She has two brothers, Oscar, who lives in Mobile and Hector Jr., who resides in Temple, Texas. Her mother, Carmen, works in the English as a second language program for the Mobile County Public School System.
When she came to the U.S., one of the biggest challenges for the family was to learn English.
"My love of English and literature came from that time when I had to adapt and learn English and incorporate it with Spanish in my mind," said Hansen.
In her senior year at Davidson High School, said Hansen, "I found it interesting and odd that I was the only Hispanic in my graduating class and was taking honors English classes with the highest grades in the class."
She said she would not return to Puerto Rico to live, but has become increasingly interested in the culture. "It is so easy to assimilate into American culture; it is important to hold on to your roots," said Hansen. "When someone asks me about Puerto Rico, I should be able to represent my native country in a positive manner."
Hansen attended the University of South Alabama, but adapting to the large scale of things was tough for her, so she left after a year. Three years later she went to Faulkner State Community College's Fairhope campus and got better grades, she said.
In the meantime, she married Jason Hansen of Mobile. They have a son, Anthony, who is 3. Hansen transferred to Bishop State in 2006 to be closer to her west Mobile home.
She is treasurer of Phi Theta Kappa, president of Sigma Kappa Delta, member of the All-Alabama Academic team, and an honoree in Who's Who among American Junior College Students.
The summa cum laude graduate (3.91 GPA) will attend Spring Hill College in the fall and plans to have a double major in English and chemistry.
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