Monica Roy Chowdhury is an incredibly well-rounded student. Not only is she a nationally recognized science scholar, she's also deeply involved in student council and community service activities at Blue Valley High and in the community. But what's even greater about Monica's achievements is her positive attitude and deep love for her school. Chowdhury is graduating from Blue Valley High this year, but she is leaving behind a legacy of hard work and love of community.
"Monica's best trait is her willingness to go above and beyond what's expected,” said Adam Wade, Blue Valley High calculus teacher. “She gives maximum effort to everything she does. I think her perseverance, dedication and desire to do well are big parts of her success."
Monica has experienced great success in the science arena. This year, she was named a semifinalist in the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search. The Intel Science Talent Search (STS) is a prestigious national science competition. The Intel STS recognizes 300 students and their schools as semifinalists each year pulling from approximately 1,700 applicants to compete for $1.25 million in awards. Monica was also selected as a finalist in the 2009-10 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. The Siemens Competition is regarded as one of the leading science and mathematics research-based competitions for high school students.
For her, the joy of science is about the ability to help others.
"Science is something I'm really passionate about because of my natural curiosity and my desire to make a difference and help people,” Monica said. “I feel I can best do that through science."
She has spent time working in laboratories at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City on projects geared toward finding cures for cancer. Monica’s goal in life is to help people with diseases. She intends to pursue a medical career after high school, but Monica is committed to using all of her skills, not just her talent for research, to give back to others in the community.
One community where she has spent much of her time giving back is Blue Valley High. She is heavily involved with student council and has also served for the last two years as the event chair for the school's Relay for Life fundraiser. This event benefits the American Cancer Society (ACS). Monica has helped raise more than $90,000 in her four years at BVH through Relay for Life.
She is a Tiger Mentor, leading freshman advisory classes. She also helped organize the school’s blood drive, has been involved in forensics, tennis, the KAY Club (a community service organization), among many others. Monica is also a member of the Science Outreach Club at BVH. She and fellow members of the club visit elementary and middle school classrooms to perform hands-on science experiments geared toward getting younger students interested in science. In honor of her leadership skills that have contributed to the success of her many activities at BVH, she was selected to receive the Principal's Leadership Award at BVH for 2010.
Monica enjoys being involved in her community and wants to give back to a school that has given her so much support.
"Being involved in community service is something that is very important to me and Blue Valley High has been an amazing place,” she said. “The faculty and the administration are wonderful and have taken a personal interest in me and in every student in the school."
Monica also said that the support and encouragement of her parents Debjani and Sujit Roy Chowdhury for all her activities has inspired her to give her best to the community.
In addition to graduation from high school, Monica is also scheduled for graduation in August 2010 from her Indian Classical dance school, Nritya Academy. Learning Indian dance has been a big part of her life outside of school.
Monica has chosen the University of Kansas (KU) to pursue the chemical engineering honors program with a pre-med focus. She received a full ride scholarship with some of KU's top scholarship awards.
Now as she looks toward the future, Monica is excited for the possibilities ahead and hopeful that no matter where she goes and what she does, she will be able to do what’s most important to her: helping others.