As the school year comes to a close, Lincoln-Way East senior Anila Moparthi has received the prestigious honor of being named a National Merit Scholarship winner. Moparthi has been awarded the National Merit Ascension Scholarship by Ascension Health, which is one of the corporate-sponsored awards given by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Anila plans to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to major in engineering mechanics, a degree they hope will lead to a career in acoustic engineering. “I have always had an interest in music. I have taken piano lessons since I was four and have also had singing lessons from a young age. I am fascinated with the intersection of science, math, and sound,” they said.
The National Merit Scholar program criteria is largely based on PSAT scores, followed by a detailed application completed by the student. For the corporate scholarships, the sponsoring organization sets the rest of the criteria. Moparthi noted that their SAT preparation began prior to becoming a Lincoln-Way East student, but they had to work around several other challenges related to COVID when it came to school and extracurriculars. “I worked pretty hard my freshman and sophomore year, trying my best to pay attention and study even though we weren’t in person,” said Anila.
Throughout their high school career, Moparthi has been involved in several extracurricular activities. They are currently one of the captains of the Scholastic Bowl team, and they were named as an All-State player by the Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association earlier this year. They have also been involved in Mathletes and are currently a co-president of the ASIA (Asian Students International Alliance) Club. They were also part of the Argonne Exemplary Research Program during their junior year at East.
“I am very excited about winning this scholarship. It is truly validating, and I am overjoyed that my hard work has paid off,” Moparthi said.
Congratulations to Anila on this outstanding accomplishment.