Lawrence North Boasts First Ever Gates Millennium Scholar

anika%20nishatLawrence North High School Senior, Anika Nishat has been selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar (GMS). I hate to assume that everyone is familiar with this program, but it is HUGE – both financially and as an recognition of Anika’s hard work. GMS supplements any scholarships the student has already received, based on the cost of tuition/room/board/fees/books, at any accredited college/university in the US. It also continues to offer funding for a student into their graduate work in several fields. She is the first at either Lawrence North or Lawrence Central to receive this award.

About the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program

Competition for the scholarship award is expected to be substantial. Therefore, Nominators should make every effort to provide a complete picture of each Nominee’s qualifications. The GMS selection process requires independent readers to assess Nominees based upon the following three major areas – academic achievement, community service and leadership.

Individuals selected as Gates Scholars will receive funds in an amount to be determined by GMS based on financial need. The award will be based on the cost of tuition, fees, books, and living expenses for the academic year as well as the availability of grants and other scholarships reported on the submitted financial aid award letter. The scholarship, for the undergraduate award, may be renewed annually based on satisfactory academic progress, full-time status, and the timely submission of required documents. Support for graduate degrees may be pursued for the following fields: computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.

Not only all of this, but Anika’s application was pooled with all competitors who are designated as “Asian/Pacific Islander,” likely the most competitive pool of prospective scholars. GMS identifies these students:

Asian Pacific Islander Americans include persons having origin from Asia and/or the Pacific Islands. Asian includes persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent. Pacific Islander includes persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands. Citizens of the republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau are also eligible to be nominated.

While the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund awards many scholarship (453 scholars in 2014), the number of APIASF Gates Scholars is a very small portion of these (less than 50 nationally). Last year, the Gates was awarded to 1,000 students (only three from Indiana).

Anika was born in Bangladesh and is bilingual (Bengali is still her primary language at home). In addition to the GMS, she was also selected as a Coca Cola scholar – 250 of these are awarded annually to a pool of US applicants. She has been accepted at Princeton and is planning to attend that university.

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