Pictured, left to right, are award-winning students Julia Rafal, Ryan Merola and Rachel Schnur.

Ryan Merola, a Brooklyn College junior enrolled in the Honors College, wants to become an assistant district attorney.

And Rachel Schnur of Queens College sees her future in cancer research and a university teaching position.

As winners of three highly competitive national scholarships, the students recently took giant steps toward reaching their respective goals. Rafal was named a Marshall Scholar; Merola, a Truman Scholar; and Schnur, a Goldwater Scholar.

"CUNY students are once again competing successfully for the most prestigious awards at the highest levels of academic achievement," said Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. "This is a tribute to the students and their families, our dedicated faculty, and the reforms implemented at CUNY over the past several years."

Britain's select Marshall Scholarship, which counts U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer among its alumni, was awarded to Rafal and 42 others for 2006. As a Marshall Scholar, she will receive $60,000 to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, England, focusing on inclusive and comparative education.

"Ultimately, my goal is to return to the U.S. and design and implement charter schools nationwide based on the inclusion models used in the U.K.," said Rafal, who now teaches at Bronx PS 246 through Teach for America.

Opening the Bronx's first all-inclusive charter school, an approach she believes will aid in erasing the special-education stigma and help children learn while accepting differences, is on Rafal's agenda.

Marshall Scholarships, founded by Britain in 1953 as thanks for U.S. help for Europe after World War II, annually recognize 40 high-achieving American scholars who are likely to become leaders in their fields. The awards, named for George C. Marshall, whose Marshall Plan helped to rebuild Europe, pay for two years of graduate-level studies at a British university.

Exceptional leadership potential is also recognized by the Truman Scholarships, which are named for President Harry S Truman and provide $30,000 for graduate study to college juniors committed to public service careers. Ryan Merola, a Brooklyn College political science-philosophy double major who aspires to graduate school and law school, is the second CUNY student in two years to receive the Truman. Last year's went to his friend Charles Claudio Simpkins of City College, who has been accepted to Harvard Law School for this fall.

Merola is a vice chair for fiscal affairs of the University Student Senate. The Marine Park resident's parents and one of his grandmothers also studied at Brooklyn College. That fact, combined with his acceptance into CUNY's Honors College program, made his decision to attend Brooklyn "a no-brainer," he said.

The highly competitive Honors College provides qualifying students with full tuition, an academic stipend, a laptop, and intensive advisement, including essay-writing guidance and interview practice for their scholarship applications.

CUNY also had a repeat performance this year with the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Named for Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, the program recognizes outstanding math, science and engineering students, covering the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

Last year's Goldwater winner was Philipa Njau, who graduates from City College in 2007 and aspires to a career as a research scientist. This year's CUNY awardee is biology major Rachel Schnur of Hillcrest, Queens, a junior in Queens College's honors program in mathematics and natural sciences.

Schnur wants to earn a doctorate in molecular biology/genetics, and pursue cancer research and university teaching. These days, though, she works with Queens College Professor Timothy Short, studying plants' responses to their environment: "I'm in the lab all day long, and I love it."