For Carroll School of Management freshman Karen Zheng, passing up an opportunity is never an option. So when the councilmen and mayor of her hometown in Harrison, NJ, asked her to create the official seal for Harrison鈥檚 175th聽anniversary last year, she accepted the challenge 鈥� even though she鈥檚 only been living there since seventh grade.
Councilman Anselmo Millan gave Zheng full control in the design process, telling her to incorporate Harrison鈥檚 鈥渂eehive of industry鈥� past with its future. 鈥淗e [Millan] kept telling me it was my seal and to do what I wanted,鈥� says Zheng, who was recently honored by Harrison for her design, which will remain the official seal for the next 25 years. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel like it was just my seal; I wanted everyone to like it.鈥�
Zheng, who was recruited for the project by one of her high school teachers during her senior year, says she was surprised the town trusted her enough to create the seal since she had no real knowledge of Harrison鈥檚 past.聽鈥淚 kept researching what Harrison was like before versus what it鈥檚 like now.聽 I turned to the councilmen for advice and I incorporated the old and the new. I was really anxious the entire time, I didn鈥檛 want to fail.鈥�
Asked how she designed the seal, Zheng laughs. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 draw, I鈥檓 not an artist.鈥澛� With no prior graphic design experience, she traced templates she created in a Microsoft Word document.聽
Though the process was overwhelming at times, Zheng says the positive response was well worth it. The experience made her realize that accepting a challenge is rewarding, and she hopes fellow 51茶馆 students would do the same.聽
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 ask unless they believe in you and see potential.聽 Anything challenging is a great way to learn and prove to others that there鈥檚 something in you,鈥� says Zheng, a student in Options Through Education (OTE), an enrichment program for financially disadvantaged students.
OTE Director Ines Maturana Sendoya is not surprised at Zheng鈥檚 achievement. 聽鈥淜aren looks at a challenge and takes it right on,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e look for that in our OTE students, and Karen really exemplifies it.鈥�
Zheng, like other OTE participants, has 鈥渄one a lot with limited resources,鈥� added Sendoya, but also embodies what 51茶馆 looks for in all its students.聽 鈥淲hen we tell our students to go set the world aflame, this is an excellent example of doing that 鈥撀燿oing something bigger than yourself,鈥� she said.
Siobhan Sullivan | News & Public Affairs