Even on a campus overflowing with bright, motivated
overachievers, Kurt Herzer and Carmen
Kut manage to stand out.
In addition to earning nearly perfect grades, both
undergraduates not only have conducted
demanding and important research projects but also have
organized and participated in a plethora of
extracurricular activities, both on and off campus.
Herzer, 20, a junior public health studies major who
works in quality improvement management
at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, has prepared reports on
patient safety and risk management for the
World Health Organization, organized a service-oriented
student group dedicated to tackling public
health issues, volunteered at a National Institutes of
Health summer camp for children with cancer
and earned gold and silver medals at the 2006 Maryland
State Taekwondo Championships as a green
belt, despite the fact that he has been legally blind from
birth as a result of a genetic condition
affecting his retina.
Kut, 22, a senior biomedical engineering major, is
founder and president of Educational
Perspectives, an international student volunteer group
dedicated to providing community-based
preventive health care and HIV/AIDS education worldwide. As
part of this endeavor, she has traveled
to rural China, India and Africa. Closer to home, she
delivers hygiene and home safety programs to
refugee children and elderly people within Baltimore City.
She also founded and organized the Johns
Hopkins Student Research Group, which matches the
internship and research needs of JHU students
and faculty, promoting cross-university collaborations. In
her little bit of spare time, Kut takes voice
lessons at the Peabody Conservatory.
According to those who know them, both Herzer and Kut
are very "outer-directed" people,
always looking for ways to help their fellow human beings.
Last week, however, they each took a few
moments to enjoy recognition of their extraordinary
achievements, when on Feb. 14 they were named
to USA Today's 17th annual All-USA College Academic First
Team. Only 20 students from around the
country were chosen for this honor, which recognizes young
people for academic excellence and also
community service.
Another Johns Hopkins senior also was recognized by
the national daily newspaper. Sonia
Sarkar, a public health and international studies major,
earned an honorable mention.
This is the second time that two Johns Hopkins
students have placed on the First Team. In all,
28 Johns Hopkins students have been honored during the
course of the 17-year-old program.
This year, nearly 500 college juniors and seniors
competed for First Team honors, which include
$2,500 cash awards. (As in years past, USA Today also
selected second- and third-team members, as
well as honorable mentions.)
Kurt Herzer, a junior majoring in
public health studies
Photo by Keith Weller
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Both Herzer and Kut were modest when asked for their
reactions to making the First Team,
noting that the honor really belongs to all of those who
have helped and worked with them.
"I am really excited about this award and deeply
grateful to the team of people that made it
possible, namely my professors, advisers, mentors, family
and friends," said Herzer, who hails from
Melville, N.Y. "It was entirely the result of our
collective efforts, and for me that was the best part
of all. I think this is really an award for teamwork, and
certainly a credit to the exceptional faculty at
Johns Hopkins. They excited me about the world but, more
important, taught me how to change it. I
don't think education can impart a greater gift."
Kut, who spent her early life in Hong Kong and now
lives in Baltimore, said, "I am deeply honored
for this award. I should stress that this All-USA honor
belongs to the hundreds of [Educational
Perspectives] members and volunteers whose hard work and
passion in serving have been instrumental
to EP's success."
Herzer's and Kut's teachers were quick to credit the
students themselves.
In his recommendation, James Goodyear, chair of Public
Health Studies, called Herzer "one of
the two best students I have ever worked with in 22 years
of advising and mentoring undergraduates
at Johns Hopkins University." Lynette Marks, also of the
School of Medicine, called Herzer "the most
extraordinary student that I have had the opportunity to
mentor in my 20-year academic medical
career," and states that he "represents what we all hope
the future of health care and medicine will
become."
Herzer brushes such praise aside, but sheepishly
admits that he came to Johns Hopkins as a
public health studies major because he "wanted to save the
world."
"I recognize that it is sort of a naive thing to
say--that I want to save the world--because the
reality is far more complex and difficult. But we must
begin by believing we can. And we need to have
the humility to recognize that we may always fail, that
when one health and safety problem is solved,
another will come along," said Herzer, who plans to attend
medical school. "The key is not losing your
enthusiasm along the way."
Herzer said he recognizes that his eyesight problems
mean that he probably won't be able to
become, say, a surgeon. But other than that, the sky is the
limit. "My philosophy is pretty
straightforward: Anything is possible until proven
otherwise," he said with a smile.
That attitude may have derived from overhearing an eye
doctor give his parents some sobering
news when he was only 4 years old: "Your son will never be
able to go to a normal school or play normal,
competitive sports like other kids. Adjust your
expectations."
Turns out they didn't have to. "I am proud to say that
I went to a regular school and did sports
and everything," said Herzer, an avid cyclist whose parents
enthusiastically supported endeavors
ranging from oil painting and horticulture to nautical and
aeronautical engineering.
Kut, too, takes on challenges that others might find
daunting.
In a recommendation for his mentee, Biomedical
Engineering Professor Aleksander S. Popel calls
Kut "highly and genuinely motivated" and praises her for
being a "compassionate individual with a sense
of obligation to society."
That obligation is, in fact, the driving force behind
Kut's public health service group,
Educational Perspectives, which she founded in 2004 as a
freshman.
Being "on the ground" in different countries
delivering health care and health care information
has taught Kut a great deal about what makes for a
successful program, she said.
"[It's] made me understand that health education
campaigns require more than just the
communication of knowledge," said Kut, who also plans to
attend medical school. "To be effective, we
must value local customs and gain the trust of the
community." Indeed, she learned that walking
barefoot and eating with her hands in India and wearing a
headscarf in Tanzania were more than just
nods to local customs: They were gestures of respect that
allowed her and the health care
information she was bringing to be accepted into the local
community.
Even before high school, Kut knew she wanted to pursue
a medical career, which was why she
was so attracted to the biomedical engineering program at
Johns Hopkins. But it was her experience
tutoring a visually impaired child named Yvonne during her
freshman year in high school that really
solidified her desire to become a doctor.
"Although her severe nearsightedness made reading an
ordeal, Yvonne had developed a passion
for reading," Kut remembers. "As a result, I made magnified
copies of the relevant pages and bought
her audio books to reduce the strain on her eyes. These
efforts reduced her suffering and enabled
her to dig deeper into her favorite literature. I found
fulfillment in helping [Yvonne] achieve her goals
and desires. She taught me to use my knowledge [to care
for] others."
Later in high school, Kut was further inspired to help
as she traveled to rural China with
nongovernmental organizations that evaluated children's
needs for education and financial aid.
"[The people's] stories were often tragic. Frustrated
at my limited ability to help, I began to
pursue sustainable methods that would better equip me to
address these inadequacies," she said,
explaining how Educational Perspectives was born.
Since its founding, EP has become an international
movement, with eight chapters and 600
volunteers in five countries on three continents: the
United States, Canada, Tanzania, India, China and
Hong Kong.
"Our aim is to create an ever-expanding team of
volunteers, and I think it's working," she says.
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