<p>Okay…More Penn Pride: </p>
<p>ALEXANDER WOLKOMIR - A young man out to seize the world: All of it
So much to do, so much to learn, so much to read, so many places to travel – but Alexander Wolkomir will probably get around to most, or maybe even all, of it. He´s had a good start.
The top senior at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft and this year´s Star-Ledger Scholar for Monmouth County is interested in so many things, good at so many things, that a question such as “What is your favorite subject?” elicits an essay that begins:
“There is no one subject that I favor over another. I really have come to appreciate each of them individually, and feel that comparing them is like trying to compare colors.” </p>
<p>Ask about a hobby? One hobby? Oh, no, not Alex – “Scouring news articles about international affairs, tennis, squash, genealogy, fossil and mineral collecting, piano, saxophone, photography and photo editing, website design.” </p>
<p>Same is true of his favorite extracurricular activities or what he wants to pursue as a career – medicine? International affairs? Politics? Maybe some, maybe all. The world is there, and Alex wants to embrace it. </p>
<p>“He´s a risk-taker,” says his French teacher, Jeannine Maloney. “He´s dynamic and full of life. His enthusiasm is contagious.” </p>
<p>Alex has had to make a few choices. A college, for example. He will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, where he hopes to study international affairs and business. </p>
<p>He´s a top student at Christian Brothers and scored 2330 on the SAT, including a perfect 800 on the math test. He also earned a perfect 800 on the SAT subject test in biology and top scores of 5 on Advanced Placement tests in history, geography, math and physics. </p>
<p>Alex also is a leader in Model United Nations programs, both at his school and for the YMCA. He also participates in mock trial and leads his school´s French Club and language competitions. </p>
<p>The young scholar lives in Rumson with his father, Alfred, a physician; his mother, Patricia, an office manager; and a sister, Lara, 15.
TEACHER: JEANNINE MALONEY
How´s this for praise for a teacher? “We entered a new world every time we came into her door.” </p>
<p>That´s how Alexander Wolkomir describes Jeannine Maloney – her students call her “Madame” – the French teacher he feels has been the most critical to his success as a student. </p>
<p>“Madame has influenced me beyond belief,” he says. </p>
<p>So, her initial sense as a child that she should be a teacher when she grew up proved right. “From day one, when I thought what I wanted to be, I thought I wanted to be a teacher.” </p>
<p>That day one was in Lewiston, Maine, where she grew up. Lewiston was put on the map, she says, when boxer Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, fought Sonny Liston. </p>
<p>She was the oldest of four children in a family where no one had gone to college. “I was the teacher,” she says. </p>
<p>She attended Rivier College, a small Catholic school in Nashua, N.H., where much of the instruction was offered in French. After graduation, she earned a master´s degree in French teaching at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. </p>
<p>Her schooling gave her the opportunity to study in Paris – and that sealed it. She has been teaching for 38 years, including 20 at Christian Brothers. </p>
<p>“I love that city,” says Maloney, who has returned on vacation and school visits seven times. “It´s just so beautiful – especially if you speak the language.” </p>
<p>She has two children and lives in Fair Haven.</p>