Joseph Daniel Bolognese

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“I’ve learned that the world is filled with people—each of us is just one grain of sand in a whole ocean. There are people who are just like me, and there are people who are so different from me that the only thing we have in common is that we’re both human. But that is the comforting truth: no matter who I meet or where they’re from, I can always be sure that we share a commonality—our humanity.”

  • Program: 2009 College Scholarship Recipient
  • Resides: Stow, OH
  • Hometown: Stow, OH
  • Age: 20

Biography

Highlights of Young Scholar Experience: Joseph Bolognese (his friends call him Joey) said being a Young Scholar precipitated the change in him from a “naïve bookworm to a charismatic leader.” The many summer camps which the Foundation enabled him to attend (Johns Hopkins, Duke, Phillips Exeter, Brown University, World Peace Convention’s Institute for International Sport) all made an impact on the California-bound student.

Profile: A leader on and off the campus at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio, Joey combined athleticism and academic smarts. When asked what achievement he was most proud of, he didn’t mention his myriad academic honors, or traveling throughout the world to participate in seminars for distinguished international students, or being a National Merit Scholarship winner. The personal triumph Joey is most proud of took place on the track at Western Reserve in 2008 where, as the anchor of his 4x400 relay team, he took the baton and raced pass the two opponents who had sizable leads, and his school won the track meet. What made the victory special was the invitational was dedicated to the memory of a well-respected teacher and coach who had recently passed.

Inspiration: About the same time Joey became a Young Scholar, he traveled to Europe as a Student Ambassador with the “People to People International” program. For the first time, the young man “saw the world that existed outside my humble Ohio hometown.” The cultural diversity he experienced “opened my eyes” to what it means to be human and he said he began to understand “my responsibility to humanity as a whole.” 

Aspiration: While his career goals are still taking shape, Joey is majoring in Physics and Neuroscience in college.

Making a Difference: Joey was involved with various activities within his school community and in his hometown, including volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and tutoring.

Accolades: National Merit Scholarship winner and he won 2nd place in the nation on his Science and Engineering team.

Interesting fact: “I can do a back flip off of my car.”

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