This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

RHS Student, Rakib Mirza, Earns Gates Millennium Scholarship

Rakib Mirza is one of only 1,000 students to earn a prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship, which will afford him a full-ride scholarship through graduate school.

Renton Patch seeks suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams who wow us with their accomplishments.

For the second year in a row a student has garnered a Gates Millennium Scholarship, one of only 1,000 such awards given in the country. Rakib Mirza is the student to receive the prestigious honor. A public announcement was made at the on Thursday morning by Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel.

Gates Millennium Scholars are selected by a panel of judges who rate them on academic achievement, leadership potential and community service. The program is designed to provide aide to academically gifted minority students with financial need.

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The chief aim of the program is to grow future leaders by removing financial barriers to success. Millennium Scholars are able to go from high school, all the way through a doctoral program if they wish to do so.  The target disciplines, where minorities are underrepresented are: computer science, education and engineering, public health sciences, library science and mathematics.

Mirza is interested in a career in science. His award will earn him a full-ride college and graduate school scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He plans to double major in computer science and electrical engineering at the University of Washington.

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mirza gives credit to the teachers at in his chemistry, physics and biology classes.

“They always challenged me,” he said in the district press release. “They are available between classes and, if I finish an assignment early, they provide more challenging work.”

One teacher that made a memorable impression on Mirza’s life was Mr. James Gold, who taught complex problem-solving with real-world applications. The young man had an “aha” moment for a future in science beyond high school in Gold’s classroom.

 “I think in that class — and Mr. Gold’s presentation — was the moment when I knew that I wanted to study science,” Mirza said.

In addition to high school classes, Rakib takes advanced placement classes at Bellevue College, participates in speech and debate and is on the school’s environmental “Green Team.”

He plans to enroll as a Husky in the fall.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?