Oct. 8, 2008

Saugus, Calif. -

By Tom Sheridan

If you ever wondered if hard work really pays off, look no further than Cal State Fullerton freshman gymnast Melanie Yamabe to see that it does. Her hard work in the gym earned her a walk-on spot on the gymnastics team, and her hard work in the classroom and community have earned her the prestigious honor of being named a CSF President's Scholar for the 2008-2009 school year.

Neither came easy.

Yamabe is one of only 25 freshmen that were selected as President's Scholars. The selection process was based on their academics and community service work during high school. To remain a President's Scholar throughout their time at CSF, the students must maintain a 3.5 GPA while still regularly performing community service.

Some of the benefits Yamabe has received for being named a President's Scholar are having her CSF tuition paid, a $750 book stipend for the year, a Dell laptop to use, and a complimentary parking pass for each semester. There is one other benefit that the recipients receive as well.

"We get to go to dinners with the [school] President's [Milton Gordon]," Yamabe said.

Yamabe applied for the award at the beginning of her senior year of high school and had no problem getting picked. Academically she finished with a 4.67 GPA and plans to continue to excel in the classroom at CSF.

"I plan on getting a 4.0 in college," Yamabe said. "That's my goal."

She was not only outstanding in the classroom, but in the community as well. In high school she did a lot of volunteer work with her church, Grace Baptist in Saugus, CA, where she taught third graders in Saturday and Sunday school. She also went on a few mission trips to Mexico where she worked with deaf children in an orphanage.

"We dug a well for them so they could have running water," Yamabe said. "We did any work for them that they needed. All we wanted was to see them smile."

Since coming to CSF Yamabe has managed to find the time to participate in a coastal cleanup effort in the Newport Bay area.

"We just went through the entire area and picked up trash and recyclables to try and make things cleaner," Yamabe said.

Yamabe's diligence outside of the gym has helped her fit right in on a CSF gymnastics team that finished sixth in the country in 2007 with a team GPA above 3.5. Academics are something that Coach Jill Hicks stresses to her athletes. When Hicks arrived at CSF three years ago, the gymnastics team was ranked 60th in the country.

"They know that No. 1 is academics, No. 2 is gymnastics, No. 3 is social," Hicks said.

Although Hicks is used to coaching standouts in the classroom, Yamabe is the first President's Scholar Hicks has ever coached.

"I love it and the Athletics Department is just thrilled," Hicks said. "I think that it just brings another aspect to our team because we want to be connected with the academic side of things on this campus, and I think that it makes the connection automatic."

Hicks is also optimistic about the impact a President's Scholar on the team will have for the program.

"Melanie has a platform to speak from academically, and I think that it just does wonders for us," Hicks said. "She's new at it but I think that it's going to open a lot of doors and provide us with a lot of connections."

Before making her final decision to come to CSF, Yamabe wanted to be sure that she was going to get everything she was looking for out of her collegiate experience. She had considered a few of the top UC schools, such as UCLA and UC Berkeley, but the opportunity to compete for a spot on the CSF gymnastics team helped her make her choice.

"Cal State Fullerton had everything. I wanted a school that I could do gymnastics at, and would push me academically," Yamabe said. "It was also close to home, but still far enough away. Everything was just adding up, it all came together and I picked Fullerton."

Yamabe first got involved in gymnastics at the age of eight and has been competing for the past 10 years. She admits that there is one event that is her favorite.

"My favorite event is [balance] beam," Yamabe said. "It's the one that comes the easiest to me."

Earning a spot on the team wasn't a sure thing, though. Originally, Hicks didn't recruit her out of high school, but after speaking with her in person she had a change of heart.

"She came in with her coach and I just fell in love with her. She struck me as somebody who I thought would work really hard, and she told me that `I'll be one of the hardest working Titans that you'll ever have.' I've only had two kids ever say that to me." Hicks said. "Typically, I don't really carry walk-ons unless I think they have a chance to make it. "

After deciding to come to CSF, Yamabe had to try out and didn't know if she would make the team.

"For the first two weeks I was very stressed and worried," Yamabe said. "I just kept the mindset that I would try my hardest, and if that wasn't good enough, then that would be ok because I'd have no regrets if I didn't make the team."

When she found out that she earned a spot on the team, Yamabe said that she was very relieved.

"After that I could sleep well, knowing that all my hard work paid-off," Yamabe said. "College gymnastics was my one goal. Knowing that I finally made it was such a big goal that I could check off. The relief and enjoyment that I succeeded was everything that I had ever thought it would be."

Since making the team, Yamabe has lived up to her words and confirmed Hicks' decision to put her on the squad.

"That girl has an incredible work ethic," Hicks said. "That brings so much to a team."