Ritvika Yeyuvuri Receives Chancellor’s Science Scholars and Goodnight Scholarships For Class of 2026
Green Hope Senior Ritvika Yeyuvuri Receives CSS and Goodnight Scholarships for Class of 2022
May 11, 2022
The Chancellor’s Science Scholars (CSS) Program and the Goodnight Scholarship are two of the most prestigious endowments offered to high school students around the world. Providing leading students in the various fields of STEM with a multitude of opportunities to accelerate their interests, these two programs offer students the resources they need to pave the way for success at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, respectively.
In the beginning of April, Green Hope senior Ritvika Yeyuvuri was offered the opportunity to pursue both of these programs.
“It felt really great when I opened the decisions for both of these scholarships. For CSS, I remember getting the notification during lunch and was really happy,” Yeyuvuri recounted. “I immediately called my parents to tell them and they were equally as excited. I received my Goodnight Scholars decision a few days after my Chancellor’s acceptance, and it was really exciting when I found out that I got both of the scholarships,” she added.
Achieving these scholarships took much dedication and commitment, both academically and personally. Throughout high school, Yeyuvuri maintained a strong academic record and was involved in a plethora of activities including being the lead of Doyenne Inspiration. Here, she and her team successfully reached about 500 girls across the state through competitive robotics competitions and workshops that resulted in a 10% increase in female enrollment in the internationally-recognized FIRST Robotics Competition.
Additionally, Yeyuvuri also participated in a Computing Internship at NC State where she had the opportunity to create Computer Science lesson plans for middle and high school teachers to incorporate into their curriculum. Furthermore, she created a lesson plan for AP Computer Science A that is now used at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, as well as a lesson on light speed and black holes for middle school teachers in North Carolina.
Inside of school, Yeyuvuri serves as the President of Neuroscience Club, a member of the Black Falcons Special Projects division, Key Club, NHS, and NTHS. She is also the Vice President of Business for her robotics team, which won State Championships and ranked third in their division at the World Championships in her freshman year.
As for the application process itself, Yeyuvuri found the waiting period to be the most difficult part of it all. “For Goodnight Scholars, they choose 800 semi-finalists to complete a written essay due in January. In February, 100 finalist notifications come out with interviews in March and a final decision by April for 50 students,” she explained. “For CSS, you are notified of finalist selection at the same time as college notification with two supplemental essays due in February and an interview in March in which around 200 are selected. The final decision is given in April for around 25-30 finalists,” she added.
For students who are looking to apply for either of these scholarships in the future, Yeyuvuri has one piece of advice: find your passion. “It can be in any field, but find something that interests you so much that you would want to explore it in an unlimited amount. And with that, pursue it,” Yeyuvuri stated. “College applications and scholarships are pretty stressful, so finding what you like and doing as much as you can to pursue that passion will be more valuable for these applications than a bunch of extracurricular activities that you are not really interested in,” she explained.
Yeyuvuri cited much of her success to following this philosophy and getting involved in her field of interest: computer science and astronomy. “Over the summer, I got the opportunity to work with and conduct research with an NYU professor in the astrophysics field and write my own research paper on the conservation of modern physics through dark energy,” she stated. “I was really interested in the topic of dark matter and energy and its theoretical implications so this was a really fulfilling opportunity. This experience really opened my interest in research, and I was able to show that to both these scholarship committees which I think definitely helped me stand out,” she added.
After careful consideration, Ritvika committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an entering member of the 10th cohort of the Chancellor’s Science Scholars. We wish the best for Ritvika as she moves forward!
