In early May of 2023, one of our very own West Albany High School students was awarded the honor of being picked as US presidential scholar. Out of thousands of applications, only 161 students in the entire country receive this award. Caroline Gao was one of them.
To qualify to be a presidential scholar takes a lot of hard work and motivation. Not only do you have to have one of the highest ACT and SAT scores in the country, they will also look at all of your extracurricular activities. On top of being a straight A student all 4 years of high school, Caroline went above and beyond for her community. This includes her creative writing, her non profit organization, The World in Us, and the magazine, Aster Lit, that she co-founded. When talking about her achievements, Gao expresses, “ I wasn’t doing things just because I wanted to put them on my resume. I have pretty personal stories behind why I started engaging in the work I did. I worked to turn my passions into things that genuinely and positively impacted my community.”
In the fall Caroline Gao plans on attending Harvard University. In her high school years she has made a huge impact on her community and the people around her. She says that the Presidential Scholar award was only 1 of the awards she’s been reaching for this school year. And although it is a huge honor, she does not plan on it being the last award she gets for her hard work. She hopes to continue doing her part in improving the community, and fighting for what she believes in.