An Iowa State freshman reflected on the new millennium and won big.

Derek Kim, freshman in aerospace engineering, won a $10,000 scholarship for his winning essay “A Reflection Upon the Year 2000” about the Y2K computer glitch.

“We were supposed to reflect on the year 2000, how it is good for mankind and how you see yourself in it,” Kim said.

He wrote the essay for an annual scholarship contest sponsored by CollegeNET, an Internet service that assists students in searching for information about schools and applying to colleges.

The essay contest was open to students who filled out college applications via CollegeNET.

“I applied to college through the CollegeNET services. All of the colleges involved in CollegeNET chose finalists,” Kim said.

Kim found out he won the scholarship after viewing the CollegeNET Web site where his essay was published.

“I was surprised. I didn’t think I’d win. I wasn’t expecting anything,” he said.

Marc Harding, director of Admissions at ISU, expressed congratulations to Kim on behalf of the university.

“We are proud that one of our students who applied through the World Wide Web has won this major scholarship. We look forward to continued success with the CollegeNET service,” he said in a press release.

The number of nominations depends on how many students applied through CollegeNET, said Patricia Summers, CollegeNET director of Internet marketing.

“Iowa State had a lot of applicants, so they had six nominations,” Summers said.

Essays were nominated by the schools to which the students applied using CollegeNET. Kim’s essay was selected following a review of finalist essays.

“The judging committee was comprised of the president of the company, our technical writers and journalists,” Summers said.

Kim said the scholarship will be applied directly to his tuition.

The essay focused on the difference between proactive and reactive attitudes in leadership.

“I believe the year 2000 teaches an important lesson: That success will follow from taking a more proactive approach to problems,” Kim wrote in the essay.

He identified proactive companies as “companies that think ahead,” and reactive companies as companies that “solve problems as they occur.”

Kim explained the Y2K bug as a development due to the “lack of foresight by the makers of the first computers.”

Kim’s full essay can be read at www.collegenet.com/scholarships/cn_schol_winners_98.html.

This is the second year CollegeNET has sponsored the essay contest.