BY GABE HERMAN | Two Stuyvesant High School students have been chosen to be among this year’s select group of Milken Scholars.
The scholarship is from the Milken Institute and the Milken Family Foundation and was founded in 1989.
The program selects high school seniors based on factors such as academic performance, community service, leadership skills and overcoming personal challenges. The scholarship is open to students in New York City, Los Angeles County and Washington, D.C.
Six students from New York City were chosen for the 2019 program, with the two locals from Stuyvesant H.S. being Hanah Jun and Summer Shabana.
The Scholars Program helps young people with their transition to college and beyond. A $10,000 scholarship is included. There is also a lifelong support system that includes career counseling, assistance with landing internships, providing opportunities for community service, and a fund to help with career goals after undergraduate school.
“In the nearly three decades since Lori and I cofounded the Milken Scholars program, these leaders of tomorrow have consistently inspired us by their achievements, leadership and dedication to service,” said Mike Milken, chairperson of the Milken Institute. “This year’s class of outstanding New York Scholars is no exception. In welcoming them to the Milken Scholars family, we are confident they can change the world.”
Jun also received The New York Times College Scholarship and the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She is a QuestBridge National College Match Finalist and College Prep Scholar, a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and an AP scholar.
Jun tutors at the Arista Honor Society, and serves at soup kitchens. She is a musician, and started a citywide project for high school musicians to spread classical music by playing on New York City’s streets. As an intern at the United Nations, she researches the relationship between environmental policy and political turmoil.
Jun will be attending Yale where she will concentrate on environmental studies and economics. She plans a career as an entrepreneur.
Shabana is the founder and president of StuyPrep. Under the program, current and former Stuyvesant students help middle school students from underrepresented areas prepare for the Specialized High School Entrance Exam. She also founded Stuy SAT Prep, which works with underprivileged students from the elite high school.
Shabana is a Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Scholar, an AP Scholar, a Jack Kent Cooke College Scholar, and a Questbridge National College Match Recipient, among other awards. She is a member of the Arista National Honor Society and Spanish Honors Society, and has participated since fifth grade in the Lang Science Program at the American Museum of Natural History. She worked on the neurology ward at New York-Presbyterian Columbia Medical Center, and started a club at school to raise money for Operation Smile, which performs palate and cleft-lip surgeries worldwide.
Shabana will attend Rice University to study bioengineering and neuroscience, and plans a career in medicine.
“The Milken Scholars Program provides a lifelong network and resources of over 400 past honorees,” said Phyllis and Sidney Bresler, from the Robert I. Schattner Foundation, Inc., which is a sponsor of the New York City Milken Scholars. “Despite significant obstacles, these extraordinary students continue to not only persevere, but shine, and we look forward to seeing what their bright futures will hold.”
More than 450 Milken Scholars have been selected since the initiative’s founding. This year’s other four New York Milken Scholars are Sarah Deonarain, from Townsend Harris High School in Queens; Miyu Imai, from Horace Mann School in the Bronx; Lizi Maziashvili, from Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn; and Andy Wang, from Staten Island Technical High School.
