This piece was submitted by Anna Keyzer (10, J&C).
Anjali Chadha (12, MST), a senior at duPont Manual High School, received the Bryan Cameron Impact Scholarship, a four-year full ride scholarship to any college of the students choice on Dec. 11.
The scholarship rewards 15 out of 3,000 student applicants who have made a significant impact on their community or those who have the potential to do so.
As part of the application, students are required to get teacher recommendations and answer essay questions about activities they have participated in, their future plans and goals and accomplishments that set them apart from other applicants.
Chadha heard about the scholarship from a fellow winner of the Credentials Spirit of Community award.
After the scholarship committee processes the initial 3,000 applications, 80 students are selected to be interviewed by a correspondent that flies out to each student’s high school.
“My interview was two hours long. It was really intense but my interviewer was super nice and friendly,” Anjali said.
She started a nonprofit organization that works with minority girls to teach them about technology and skills that will prove useful in the new world, and she has raised more than $100,000 for the organization.
Chadha also built an arsenic sensor that is inexpensive to make and easy for anyone to use. She intends for it to be accessible everywhere, but especially focus on distributing it to parts of the developing world.
“I think my interviewer liked the fact that I had done really hard science and research, but that I’m also planning to take it further into the real world,” Anjali said.
Chadha is not sure where she wants to go with the scholarship, but hopes to go to school somewhere in Boston, even though there are other places she is considering.
Because The Bryan Cameron Foundation has made a big impact on her life, Anjali wants to become an ambassador for the scholarship and wants to inspire more students to make a big impact in high school.
“[The scholarship] has only been around for a couple of years, but I have a feeling that in the next few years a lot of Manual students might have an opportunity to win it,” Anjali said.
