They've studied in countries from Ghana to China, speak languages from Zulu to Mandarin, and count everything from West African drumming to firefighting among their talents.

The 32 Rhodes Scholars announced Sunday represent a diverse cross-section of U.S. students, hailing from New England to the Deep South, from Ivy League universities to small liberal arts colleges. However, the scholars, who will study at Oxford University in England beginning next October, are selected based on a core set of criteria: academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor.

Recipients reached by The Associated Press all described similar reactions: They were excited, humbled and at times in disbelief.

"I keep sort of checking my phone to see if this actually happened," said David Carel, a Yale University senior and one of seven recipients from the school. "It's so hard to believe I just sort of assume I dreamed the whole thing."

Carel said he hopes to use his scholarship to study how health, education and economics intersect.

A trip to explore the South African roots of his family led to work in the KwaZulu-Natal region of eastern South Africa, where he joined Peace Corps volunteers and later a nonprofit working with at-risk youths who aren't in school and don't have jobs, trying to prevent widespread alcoholism, depression and other problems.

He is fluent in both Zulu and Hebrew, is a lead drummer in a West African dance troupe and teaches a form of Israeli dance.

Rhiana Gunn-Wright's ambitions stem from her childhood in the impoverished Englewood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

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