In a few years, one might see Woodside resident Grace Chao working as a doctor in a pediatric or cardiology unit. Or, she might be running the medical clinic she starts for inner city residents. Maybe she’ll even be the country’s Surgeon General in some President’s administration.
Those are some of the possible career paths for the 18-year-old senior at St. Mary’s High School in Long Island, who was recently named a Presidential Scholar – one of the highest honors for high school students throughout the country. Chao was one of only five New York State residents and 141 high school students throughout the country to receive the prestigious award.
“It’s really a great honor, and it’s just really exciting,” said Chao, who found out she won by receiving a phone call from her mother, whose colleague saw her name on a news report containing a list of winners.
Based on standardized tests scores, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) selects 2,600 students who are eligible to apply for the Presidential Scholar awards; then students must complete an application.
Then the DOE selects a maximum of 141 winners based on the applications.
“She is tremendously motivated, which involves her school work and extracurricular interests,” said Kathy Smith, who is the Chairperson of the Science Department at St. Mary’s and teaches Chao Advanced Placement Biology this year.
Ever since Chao was a young kid, she remembers being interested in science and medicine. The Woodside senior, who will attend the heralded School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, next year, remembers one incident that really piqued her interest in medicine.
Her younger brother suffered serious injuries in a football accident that caused his kidney to split into five pieces – but the doctors took good care of him and helped him get back to normal.
“Watching the doctors work for him was inspiring,” she said. “They never operated, but they always knew what was what was going on. I thought that was amazing.”
In addition to being a straight-A student at St. Mary’s, Chao’s resume of service and extracurricular activities – both inside and out of school – is quite impressive. In 10th grade, Chao, who is of Taiwanese descent, founded the Asian Club after observing a disconnect between a large portion of the school’s Korean population and other students.
“I really feel like it helped the school become more unified,” said Chao. Since the club’s inception, the membership has steadily increased, and currently more than 25 percent of the members are non-Asian students, according to Chao.
Chao also works as a youth action volunteer for the Citizens Committee for Children where she tutors, mentors and tries to empower other youth – primarily those in the inner city – to become more involved.
As part of the Presidential Scholar program, Chao and the other winners will travel to Washington D.C. for an all-expense paid, four-day trip where they will meet with government officials, educators, authors, scientists and other accomplished people and receive tours of the historic city. At the end of the trip, they will receive the Presidential Scholars medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
Chao is hopeful that President Barack Obama might personally welcome this year’s Presidential Scholars winners – since they are the first class of his presidency.
“I’m still going to have to think about what to say to him,” Chao said.
