When some kids want to pocket extra money, they stick to running lemonade stands.
But 30 members of the Class of 2005 started full-fledged businesses during their high school years, and then -- showing off their flair for commerce -- sought recognition through a scholarship program in Penn's chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.
The business-oriented fraternity recently established the Delta Sigma Pi Student of Commerce Award to help students with strong business minds pay for their Penn educations, ultimately rewarding two of the 30 freshmen with scholarships.
This year marked the first year that the international fraternity offered the scholarship. The $500 award, funded by Delta Sigma Pi alumni and revenue from the fraternity's work for Corporate Advertising Services, is earmarked specifically toward Penn tuition.
"The reason we implemented it is because we don't know if there's a scholarship on campus that caters to professionalism, service and business interests," said Robin Tam, Penn's Delta Sigma Pi scholarship chairwoman.
Over the summer, the co-ed, professional fraternity contacted all incoming Wharton freshmen regarding the scholarship and set up an online application form for interested individuals to complete.
The application asked for typical academic information, such as SAT scores, but also included more heavily weighted, business-related questions.
For instance, the application asked about what type of company the candidate would start if given the opportunity.
"Some of the answers were pharmaceutical companies... [and] a Web site that predicted surf patterns," said Tam, a Wharton junior.
The fraternity ultimately chose the two winners of the scholarship -- Wharton freshmen Samuel Reeves and Jane Chung -- based on their significant business achievements during high school.
According to Wharton and Engineering senior Robbie Hsiung, president of Penn's chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, Reeves started a lawn mowing business on a "large scale" and made "quite a bit of money" hiring other people to cut lawns.
"One thing that really struck me is that he's part of the Eagle Scouts, and he designed, helped and managed the construction of a community center for the elderly," Hsiung added. "I thought that was really impressive."
The fraternity president had just as much praise for Chung.
"She designed her own prom dresses," Hsiung said. "And she won a business plan competition for some sort of health care technology that she wrote with a few friends. She's getting funding for that."
"Both of them are really, really impressive, and we're really happy to be able to give the scholarship to these two," he added.
After collecting applications, Delta Sigma Pi held a round of professional interviews with the scholarship hopefuls. Two brothers interviewed each candidate.
A dinner for all applicants served as another more casual "interview."
"In the fraternity, a lot of people are business-minded," Hsiung said. "They have similar interests in business, and I felt that it would be a good idea for us to talk to them [at the dinner]. You can connect on that level."
And according to Delta Sigma Pi Senior Vice President Akshay Mansukhani, "The idea of a scholarship has been floating around in this fraternity, [but] it was extremely difficult to execute because of funding."
Mansukhani, a Wharton junior, said that a combination of profits from Delta Sigma Pi's annual consulting conference, support from alumni and money from work for Corporate Advertising Services made the scholarship possible this year.
