Compiled by Kelianne Chinn

Vivek Rajkumar
University of  Washington

At age 14, Vivek was admitted to the Early Entrance program at the University of Washington. An excellent student, he was awarded the Early Entrance Program Paradise Scholarship in 2004 and the Apogee Scholarship in 2001. He recently graduated at age 18 with degrees in computer engineering and applied math.

In addition to his coursework at the UW, last summer he was admittedinto the California Institute of Technology CBSSS course, where he attended lectures on quantum, molecular and biomolecular computing, and authored a paper entitled “Efficient programming of nanowire-based sublithographic programmable logic arrays.”

Over the years he has participated in a variety of research projects in subjects that include computer vision, neural systems and data compression.

Vivek is originally from India but lived in Singapore for nine years before coming to America. This fall he will begin working at Microsoft as a software design engineer.

Carina Carter
Kent Meridian High School

A talented designer and seamstress, Carina created two prom dresses and was president of the Knitting Club and the Design Club at Kent Meridian High School. Her career goal is to become a fashion designer and to attend design school in London.

Carina is also interested in learning foreign languages. She has taken five years of Japanese and knows a little bit of French, German and Spanish. Her high school named her Student of the Year in both foreign language and art, while the Japanese Language School gave her its Most Outstanding award.

An athlete, Carina participated in varsity gymnastics and softball and received the South Puget Sound League Scholar Athlete Award.

Carina graduated with a 3.86 GPA. In the fall she will attend the University of Washington.

Christina Hao Wang
Newport High School

Christina graduated as valedictorian of her class with a 4.0 GPA. She hopes to someday go to medical school and become a doctor, perhaps a cardio surgeon, and a part-time researcher.

In high school she was active in extracurricular activities. She participated in the French Club, Math Club, debate, Model United Nations, the school paper Knight Life, tennis and fencing. She attended Western Washington Debate Camp in 2003 and Victory Briefs Institute Camp in 2004.

Despite her busy schedule, she still found time to volunteer at Seattle Pacific University, the Pacific Science Center and the Humane Society. Christina also tutored students through the Honor Society.

Her academic awards include eight Academic Excellence awards and five Student of the Quarter or Student of the Month awards. Last year Christina was named an Advanced Placement National Scholar.

She hopes to pursue her passion for science by studying bioengineering/biomedical engineering at the University of Washington, where she will enroll this fall.

Stephanie Landicho
Blanchet High School

Taking the most rigorous schedule of honors and Advanced Placement courses, Stephanie completed high school with a 3.85 GPA and earned an SAT score of 1390.

She has been an active participant in her community, volunteering for such organizations as the Children’s Hospital Thrift Store, Northwest Harvest and Blessed Sacrament Soup Kitchen. At school she was a member of the track and field team, the Spirit Club, the Multicultural Awareness Committee and the Spanish Club. Stephanie is also an accomplished pianist, having played for 10 years.

She earned four academic letters and was featured in Who’s Who Among American High School Students.

In the fall she will attend the University of Southern California, where she was accepted into the prestigious baccalaureate/M.D. program. The program guarantees her a spot in USC’s medical school. Out of 700 applicants, only 30 students were chosen for this honor. (end)