Academic Scholarships
Prince of Princeton
Rachel Conrad and Sherry Ann Morgenstern
As seniors make their final selections for colleges, Riverbend bids farewell to another class of diverse, distinguished leaders. Amir Raja, a member of the Class of 2014, was recently accepted to one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the world: Princeton University. With an acceptance rate as selective as 8.5 percent, Princeton has been ranked as one of the best universities in the country by U.S. News, CNN, Forbes, and many others.
Ironically, the word “Amir” means “prince” in Arabic. Perhaps this coincidence foreshadows Raja’s high ambitions at Princeton. He intends to study biochemical engineering, and looks forward to accessing Princeton’s state-of-the-art plasma physics labs. He looks forward to meeting people from all over the country, and indeed, all over the world.
“My advice to freshman would be that if they aspire to attend an esteemed school, the main thing is to keep your grades high, and the SAT isn’t what gets you in. Distinguish yourself through your essay, and reflect upon high school as you’re experiencing it.”
— Amir Raja
Raja is one example of the talented seniors graduating this June. Regardless of the institution and its ranking, Riverbend looks forward to hearing about its students’ successful futures in whatever field they pursue.
Hopefully a Great Experience
Grayson Fusaro
Senior Hope Riffee has made her mark on Riverbend, and she will do great things in college. Hope is attending Florida State University. Hope is doing something that very few seniors are doing, which is study abroad. Studying abroad, for those who don’t know, is when college students study in a foreign country through their school. Hope is studying in Europe for her first two semesters. She is majoring in editing for media. For the fall and winter, Hope will be living in Spain. For the spring, she will be living in Italy. Hope chose to study abroad, because it’s a great way to get credit for general -education classes, and it can apply to her being able to pay in-state tuition for her last three years of school. In addition, there is the adventure of going to school in Europe. I for one, hope that she likes it.
Roll Tide Roll
Alee Blount
Senior, Steven Newhall received a full academics ride to the University of Alabama. Steven is going to major in mechanical engineering and will graduate with a GPA of 4.28 and an ACT score of 32. Steven’s advice to High school students is, “Work hard in school and study for your standardized tests.” Throughout high school Steven mostly focused on his math and science classes, taking as many AP classes that he could. Alabama offered him full paid tuition, an engineering scholarship, and an honors scholarship. The engineering scholarship and the honors scholarship paid for all the other additional costs, giving him a full ride.
Steven chose to go to the University of Alabama because of all the opportunities he would have. He hopes to get an internship with Mercedes Benz one summer. In the future, he wants to get his MBA and run his own engineering firm. Steven is mostly excited for the football games, fraternity, night life, and great education. He is most nervous to see how difficult engineering is, but overall he is excited to attend the University of Alabama!
