At Lincoln South Rotary Club on May 13, we met our high school seniors selected to receive $1,000 scholarships from our Club.
Emma Anderson
Emma is a resident of Lincoln and will graduate this month from Lincoln High School and the LPS Science Focus Program.
Emma is an honor roll student at Lincoln High and has received academic letters for outstanding academic performance. She is a member of the National Honor Society and has received a number of academic awards. She has lettered in varsity golf and twice received a Lincoln Public Schools Scholar/Athlete award. She actively supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and has worked on committees to help educate others on ways to support those efforts.
Emma has performed volunteer service work across a broad spectrum of endeavor: coaching children, and working on both environmental issues and gender-equity issues.
In addition to her school and volunteer activities, she has been employed during her high school years.
Emma will attend Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and has been accepted into the Washburn Honors Program. She intends to select a double major program with a primary major in Economics. She hopes to continue her studies through to Masters and maybe a PhD program.
During her presentation to the club, Emma shared her appreciation for the Science Focus Program of LPS. She believes that program had an impact on her development and helped her become the person that she is today.
She is not exactly sure what path she will take after college but hopes to work in the public sector sharing what she has learned through her experiences.
Emma's parents are Denise Anderson and Doug Anderson.
Zein Saleh
Zein is a resident of Lincoln and will graduate this month from Lincoln North Star High School.
Zein is an honors student and is currently the President of North Star’s chapter of the National Honor Society. Zein has been on the student council for four years and has held the positions of President, Secretary and Advertising Chair. Zein has received a number of academic awards. Zein is active in debate and has twice been the champion of the NSCTA State Lincoln Douglas Debate. He is a 2022 Nebraska delegate to the U.S. Senate Youth Program.
Zein has participated in volunteer activities designed to increase the participation of students with low income and/or diverse backgrounds in academic and extracurricular activities, including the development of writing and communication skills, debating skills and participation in advance placement and honors courses.
In addition to his school and volunteer activities, he has been employed during his high school years.
Zein will attend college in the fall and intends to major in Political Science. He would like to pursue a minor in sociology and also in Arabic. He plans to attend law school.
He shared the story of his family coming to America. He was born in Syria. His mother had a Fulbright Scholarship and came here to study at UNL. When he was 8, the civil war broke out in Syria. Though the plan was always to return to Syria, the family stayed because it was not safe to return. Though it was an unexpected change in plans, it worked out okay for Zein. He realized that the opportunities for education were far greater in the United States.
Zein said he was raised to be academically ambitious. That made it possible for him to excel in his studies. He was President of the National Honor Society and their pillars are scholarship, service, leadership and character. That helped him extend his ambitions beyond studies and he found many service opportunities. He was able to work with faculty and students on events and found that it energized the school and brought people together.
He has a passion for supporting marginalized individuals to ensure that all students are comfortable in their environment. He has been a part of creating leadership programs for students and faculty to provide awareness and education.
Zein's parents are Abla Hasan and Hassan Saleh.