Although this year has been somewhat negative with COVID-19 going on, some positive news was released when six seniors at HHS were nominated for the U.S. Presidential Scholarship Program. One of the six students is senior Nipun Banerjee. Banerjee was selected based on his academic achievements, participation in community service, motivation, and inspiring aspirations for his future.

Some additional accomplishments Banerjee recently earned was being named a National Merit Finalist after submitting an application based on his semifinalist status earlier this year. He also hopes to be named a National Merit Scholar later this year. At the end of Banerjee’s sophomore year, he was accepted to the Columbia University Science Honors Program, which is an outstanding accomplishment for any high schooler, let alone a sophomore. Banerjee still considers it one of his more significant achievements. Since being accepted to the university, he has taken courses at the university, such as Biochemistry, to explore his interests in a unique way.

Banerjee was the perfect fit for the Presidential Scholars nomination, being the leader of our school’s Science Olympiad team. By taking on this responsibility, Banerjee is responsible for preparing meetings, leading other students, and helping them work toward our success.

“Science Olympiad has been one of my favorite activities to engage in,” Banerjee said.  “I think it helps build bonds through teamwork and shared interest in what we do.”

By participating in the Science Olympiad, Banerjee has allowed himself to further explore his specific interests. Aside from Science Olympiad, he is also on the school’s Robotics team as the Strategy Manager, responsible for leading the team’s logistics and data collection. As you can see, Banerjee can do a little bit of everything. But the superhuman does  not stop there. Banerjee is also the director of finance in the local NeuLook Consulting Club, where he works with local businesses to help better their organization in various ways, while also gaining career experience.

Banerjee has also put his time and effort into meaningful projects raising money for the Shishu Bhavan Orphanage in Kolkata, India, and has been helping this orphanage for a few years now. In his sophomore and junior years, he was able to raise over $1,000 for the cause. Not only did he raise the money, he also took a trip to India to physically go to the orphanage and volunteer to help them with anything they needed, such as organizing their supplies and talking to the kids about my experiences.

“While I hoped they could learn from me, I know I also learned a lot from them,” Banerjee said.  “This year, because of the COVID situation, I continued this initiative. Starting a new fundraiser, I have raised an additional $1,500 so far. I hope to possibly return to the orphanage as well later this year to continue to help them.”

The other main project which he has  been working on is starting a computer science club at HHS. He has been working with the nonprofit organization Steel City Codes, which seeks to spread knowledge about the subject to younger students so they can start learning about it earlier.

“I hope to get the club completely established by the end of the school year,” Banerjee said. “Our main goal would involve teaching coding languages and general computer science to students who are interested in the subject at the intermediate and middle schools.”