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Local student wins Morehead-Cain scholarship

Bob Keener

Bob Keener is profoundly interested in nature — human nature and the outdoors kind.

He’s done academic research as an intern at both UNC and Duke. At the School of Science and Math in Durham he leads an effort to make sure that as little waste as possible goes from the campus to a landfill. He’s captain of his school’s soccer team, likes to take photographs, plays clarinet and banjo and enjoys cyclocross racing and mountain biking.
UNC at Chapel Hill rewarded Keener for his academic and athletic record as well as his volunteer work outside the classroom by awarding him a Morehead-Cain scholarship, one of the most prestigious full rides in America.

A native of Hendersonville, Keener spent the first years of his schooling here, at Atkinson elementary and Hendersonville middle and high schools. Bob  — full name Robert Franklin Keener IV — is the son of Rob Keener, a real estate agent, and Mandi Morgan Keener, a health coach with a private practive in Hendersonville. He has a sister, Lillie, who is in eighth grade at Hendersonville Middle School.
The Morehead-Cain scholarship pays for tuition, room and board, books, a laptop, supplies, “discovery funds” for other educational opportunities and a four-year summer enrichment program.
Keener, 18, says he's undecided on a major at Carolina but is thinking of English or history.
“There’s a very good chance,” he said when asked whether that means graduate school is on the horizon.

The 79 recipients in the Morehead-Cain class of 2022 include 43 scholars from North Carolina, 36 scholars from outside North Carolina, including 29 from fifteen different states and Washington, D.C., three from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one each from Armenia, Italy, Jamaica, Peru, Swaziland.

Here’s the Lightning’s Q&A with Henderson County’s first Morehead winner since 2012 — when Andrew Wells of HHS and Catherine Swift of West Henderson High School were selected.

What kind of study habits did you develop to do so well in academics?

“I think that changed a great deal when I came to the School of Science and Math. I did not have to study an exceptional amount while at Hendersonville. I think I learned as much from stuff I did outside, like working jobs and things. I’ve been able to spend more time focusing on schoolwork. I certainly did study beforehand but I look at the way I have to work now to keep up with classes.”

Where else have you been admitted?

“I was also admitted to Pomona (in Claremont, California), Williams, Duke and Yale.”

Can you tell about the Morehead process and the challenges and rewards?

“The first step is just a written application. I liked that early on because I felt like it was comprehensive. I think a lot of times college admissions have a tendency to reduce you to statistics, test scores or GPA. It felt that the Morehead process was interested in getting to know who I was as a person. The second round consisted of a panel interview, which was me and several interviewers, and then there was a group scenario where I and several others were asked to think through and talk through problems in a roundtable and then present that to the Morehead-Cain staff. They made observations on the way we churned that out. In the interviews at the semifinalist level and the finalist level, they took interest in the things I was passionate about and they wanted to know what I thought about the experiences and what motivated me to care about them.”

 

Often the Morehead gives weight to service outside school. What was yours?


“It’s difficult for me to say if there is a particular achievement. Before coming to the school of Science and Math I was active in my church youth group (Grace Lutheran). All throughout the School for Science and Math I worked in a couple of different nonprofits organization, which I would say fulfilled my service component the most. I’m active in a student-led nonprofit that I served as vice president of, the Student Environmental Education Coalition. It was founded here a couple of years ago and has been passed down. That was really great process to me because I was active in leadership.”

The Morehead also gives weight to athletics and physical fitness. Do you have a sport?

“I play soccer and was captain of our soccer team (center back) and also captain of our Ultimate Frisbee club team and I also compete at a high level in cyclocross and mountain biking. I started doing that (mountain biking) with my dad when I was probably in elementary school. I do a little bit of road cycling with the Duke University cycling team.”

What other extracurricular activities do you do?

“I pretty often have a lot of creative outlets going on. The visual arts. Photography is something I also pursue frequently. I played clarinet in the band at Hendersonville ... I’m also what’s called an SPL, Sustainability Project Leader. It’s a large commitment I make that I really enjoy. It’s a leadership position where we think about and try to facilitate recycling on our campus. For example, all of our package material is composted so we take out grant funding for that and make sure all the kinks are out of the system.”

You talked about learning from jobs. What were they?

“I started refereeing youth soccer when I was 12, 13, 14, around there. After that I worked one summer on a small organic farm, it was (Hal) Oliver organics. I worked at Crank Coffee, which is right at the entrance of Pisgah Forest. Those were jobs that helped support paying for college and paying for club soccer. I played for Highland Football Club.”

Who were your positive influences in school in Hendersonville?


“At Hendersonville Middle School, Mark Buzzell was one person who I think always took a personal interest in me holding myself to a really high level in the classroom. Mr. Walter Cottingham at Hendersonville, I had him my freshman year for world history. He was another professor who I think really pushed his students to excel. Apart from that I think I gain a lot from every experience I’ve had with different professors. I think there’s a shared obligation by the professor and the student to make a positive experience so it’s always an interesting challenge to meet a new professor.”

You’ve certainly had a successful high school career. What would you tell an incoming freshman about how they should approach high school?

“I think it’s imperative in high school to find yourself and figure out the things that you as an individual are passionate about. That is a very difficult thing to do at that time in one’s life because we are so concerned with what everyone around us thinks about us. I think one has to separate themselves from that outer pressure and look at the things that they are truly passionate about, whether that’s athletics or academics. It’s really good to explore things but also make yourself uncomfortable. I think experiencing that discomfort and that sense of self is a real reconciliation of one’s passion and I think that’s how you locate what you really feel.”