Exam Elite: Lawrence University Freshman Honored by Colombian Government

APPLETON, WIS. -- The news stunned Antonio Escalante. A Tuesday night phone call from his father back home in Colombia had Escalante on a plane bound for Bogota Thursday morning. When the president of your country requests your presence, you clear your calendar.

Escalante, a Lawrence University freshman from Cartagena, enjoyed a gala luncheon Feb. 5 in the company of Colombian President Andres Pastrana, thanks to his superb performance on the Colombia Institute for Secondary Education Exam.

The formal ceremony, held at the Presidential Palace in Bogota and televised nationally, honored 50 former students who scored the highest grades on the grueling two-day, 12-hour exam that is administered to all students in their last year of secondary school. Out of the nearly 500,000 students who took the exam last year, Escalante recorded the second-highest score in his state (Bolivar) and the 41st best score in all of Colombia.

"When my father called me to tell me I had one of the country's top scores and was invited to this lunch, I couldn't believe it," said Escalante, who is pursuing a major in economics and a minor in chemistry at Lawrence. "I was so happy. I kept asking him, 'are you sure about this?'"

The comprehensive exam, which consists of more than 400 questions in 10 different subjects, is administered in three different four-hour-long shifts over the course of a weekend. In addition to an invitation to dine with the president, the top 50 high scorers are given full scholarships to attend any of Colombia's major universities. Escalante, 19, is one of only four students among the top 50 from last year who are studying in the United States.

Escalante received a certificate noting his achievement at the luncheon, as well as personal congratulations from President Pastrana during a short, private meeting with him afterward.

"He told me to never forget my roots, to never forget I'm Colombian," Escalante said of his conversation with President Pastrana. "He asked me to come back someday because we (the exam winners) are the future of Colombia."