Andrea Denhoed’s dream of attending Oxford University began when she was 12 and learned that one of her favorite authors, C.S. Lewis, had gone there.
Her mother, Nancy, who home-schooled her and three siblings in their Aurora home, didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm but was realistic.
“I told her if she wanted to go to Oxford, the only way she could is if she was a Rhodes Scholar,” recalled her mother.
The University of Oklahoma senior learned Saturday that she was one of 32 college students from across the U.S. selected as 2008 Rhodes Scholars. She was the only Colorado resident on the list. A student at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Hila Levy of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, also was selected.
“It’s amazing,” Andrea Denhoed said Sunday. “It’s something I’ve wanted for a decade.”
Her mother, from India, met her father, Jeffrey Denhoed, when she was a student English teacher at the University of Wyoming. Nancy Denhoed’s biggest achievement may be teaching her own kids. Andrea’s older sister went to the U.S. Air Force Academy. One brother is a mechanical engineer. Her youngest brother is in high school.
“She is extraordinary,” Andrea said of her mother. “She taught us to be extremely hard workers. She taught us to be intellectually curious. She made us read a lot.”
Andrea will study literature and the English language at Oxford.
“She was pretty excited,” her father said about the scholarship. “She had a vision. But you never expect it to be you.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
