High School Seniors Win Local College Scholarships

Written by Beatrice Karnes

First, a jaw-dropping statistic: the cost of a college education has increased 1,120 percent over the past 30 years, according to Bloomberg. By way of comparison, food is up 244 percent and health care costs rose 601 percent over the same time period.

It’s no wonder that competition for college scholarships is fierce. Two Livermore high school seniors have whittled their college costs by snagging local money, the annual Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Edward Teller Science Scholarship.

Rachel Sowa from Livermore High School and Maryann Gong from Granada High School have each received a $1,000 scholarship toward a college education.

According to the Lab, Sowa is interested in the physics of musical instruments, acoustics and sound. In fact, she made a musical instrument herself in the physics classroom. She received all A's in science courses and has been part of the Green Engineering Academy, a California Partnership Academy. She plans to go to UC Santa Barbara, College of Creative Studies, where she will major in computer science.

Gong excelled in all areas of study, especially science and math. She took nine science classes during her four years at Granada, and completed the Biotechnology Pathway, a program that prepares students for higher education and careers in biotechnology-related fields. She entered research projects in the Alameda County Science Fair two years running, earning awards both years.

In addition, she was captain of the Granada High School Science Bowl team in her junior and senior years. She will be attending MIT in the fall with plans to further her passion for science and engineering.

The Edward Teller Science Scholarship was instituted in 2004 in honor of the late Dr. Teller, a renowned physicist and Lab co-founder.

Three seniors from Tracy also won Edward Teller Science Scholarships.