Whiz Kids: Two Gates Millennium Scholarship Finalists at John Muir High School

For this week Whiz Kid's feature we move away from excellent musicians at the elementary school level to two very impressive academic achievers at John Muir High School.

Destiny Iwuoma and Valeria Sosa were selected as finalists for the Gates Millennium scholarships from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this year.  The winners have not yet been announced.

The scholarship is awarded to outstanding minority students with financial needs to reach their highest potential.  Candidates are selected based on grades, leadership ability, and participation in community or extracurricular activities

Whiz Kid's Name (or Group name)

Destiny Iwuoma and Valeria Sosa

●      Whiz Kid's Age

Both are seniors.

●      Whiz Kid's School

John Muir High School

●      Whiz Kid's Accomplishment

The Gates Millennium scholarship is both incredibly prestigious and incredibly beneficial: it covers full tuition both at the college and postgraduate level, basically leaving scholarship winners an open path to whatever profession they want to pursue in life.

●      Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness

While Iwouma's resume of accomplishments and extracurricular  activities (football, track, Boys State, Model UN, Rotary Youth Leadership) are impressive in of themselves, his most impressive quality is leadership, according to school counselor Nancy Gonzalez. 

She wrote in his recommendation letter for the scholarship: "Destiny is the student who is always called upon to represent the school.  When we need someone to talk to middle school students, parents, or the school board, Destiny is always nominated.  We will definitely miss him when he is not at Muir next year. His willingness to help also makes him a good candidate because he is a good person who wants to give back to his community. For example, he gave up a few Saturdays to be trained in Peace Building.  He also started his own group of seniors that mentor the freshman."

As for Sosa, Gonzalez describes her as an extremely gifted student with a deep interest and talent in engineering.

According to Gonzalez, Sosa "aids Caltech grad students in their research for a mixed oxide to split water, using sunlight. She is even involved in the designing of the schools solar boat, which competes every year in the Solar Cup Competition."

She also describes her as a willing volunteer and very active in the community:

"She has a strong spirit and willingness to help others.  She is often called upon by the school or community to represent the school at different functions. She has also helped with the school's Red Cross Blood drives. She is an asset to both the school and the community."

Editor's note: The original version of this story said the students had won the scholarship, but they are actually finalists for the scholarship.  The winners have not yet been selected.  We apologize for the mistake.