Drumroll, Please! 2025 Scholarship Winners

The winners of our HGU Build A Better Future Scholarship have been chosen! There were so many amazing projects submitted. I was amazed by the dedication, time, and passion that went into each project. It was so hard to choose the top five; I spent a couple of weeks going through each application, making notes, going back through applications, and working with our HGU team to narrow it down. It was tough, but we finally settled on our decisions.

And the winners are…

Ryleigh Brenamen-Trumbull

Project: ALS Awareness Campaign

Ryleigh is passionate about ALS research and care. She is seeking to provide a better experience for patients in the throes of ALS diagnosis and treatment. Through her dedication and time, she has hosted several fundraising events that have raised over $29,000. The money has been donated directly to Hoenselaar Clinical Trial Program in Detroit, Michigan. She says, “In my community, the impact of ALS became deeply personal when three individuals, including my grandmother, were diagnosed with the disease. This experience highlighted a significant issue being the lack of research and funding dedicated to ALS. Despite the devastating nature of the disease, which progressively affects mobility, speech and breathing, ALS remains underfunded and receives limited attention compared to other diseases. The lack of resources for ALS research is a critical concern. While families like mine are left to cope with the emotional and physical toll of the disease, there is insufficient investment in scientific research and treatment development. The current pace of progress is slow and the options available for those affected by ALS are limited. It is clear that more funding and support are needed to improve the lives of those diagnosed with ALS. Increased awareness and investment in research are essential to accelerate the discovery of effective treatments and ultimately a cure. Advocating for more resources is vital to ensuring that individuals and families affected by ALS have access to better care and hope for the future.”

Maria Avila-Silva

Project: Pathfinders

Being an immigrant herself, Maria knows how difficult it can be to find the appropriate resources for accessing higher education. Her project aims to help immigrant students like herself build confidence and access to the resources needed for post-high school education. She says, “Growing up in my community, I’ve seen so many talented immigrant students held back by obstacles like self-doubt, lack of resources, and the belief that higher education is out of reach. I’ve watched friends with incredible potential question if they’re “good enough” or wonder how they could afford college, and it breaks my heart.

As someone who came to the United States from Venezuela at the age of nine, I understand these struggles firsthand. I’ve been in their shoes, feeling like an outsider and unsure of where to turn for help. That’s why I’m passionate about my work with Pathfinders, where I help immigrant students find their path to higher education. Through this program, I’ve shown students that college is not just a distant dream, but an achievable goal. Whether it’s guiding them through applications, offering mentorship, or reminding them that their passion matters. I’m driven to help students overcome the barriers that hold them back and empower them to believe in themselves and their futures. Every student deserves the chance to believe in themselves, and I’m committed to making that happen.”

Eva McIver-Jenkins and Ava Gonnella

Project: Laps for Philly

Eva and Ava knew more could be done for underprivileged kids who wanted to learn more about swimming. Together, they teamed up to create an amazing organization that provides swimming lessons and gear for kids who need it. Eva wrote, “I grew up on the pool deck, surrounded by the sharp scent of chlorine and the joy of teammates cheering each other on. My first swim team, based in West Philadelphia, was small, spirited, and predominantly Black—one of the few in the city where I felt I truly belonged. But as I moved to more competitive teams, I began to notice how rare that space was. Often, I was the only Black swimmer at the meet. It made me ask: Why aren’t there more kids who look like me in the water?

The answer wasn’t talent—it was access.

In response, I co-founded Laps for Philly, a grassroots initiative to bring aquatics to underserved communities. We fund swim lessons, lifeguard certifications, and gear, and partner with schools and centers to host workshops that reframe swimming as more than just a sport. Swimming is a life-saving skill, a source of joy and recreation, and for many—like me—a pathway to scholarships and academic opportunity.

Our mission is simple: go to where the people are—not just physically, but with understanding and respect. Through Laps for Philly, I’ve seen kids fall in love with swimming and realize the water has always been theirs, too.”

Fowwaz Moeen

Project: Food for Friends

Fowwaz became aware of the problem of food insecurity, and sought to do something about it. Using resources available to him, as well as securing additional funding, he was able to build several garden beds and restore a damaged greenhouse on his school’s campus. The garden beds are maintained by fellow students, and the crops grown and harvested are donated to local food pantries. Fowwaz wrote, “When I first walked into room C311 as a shy freshman, I never imagined the UNICEF club would define my high school experience. As I progressed from member to President, I expected my impact would be contained to UNICEF. However, the defining moment of my leadership came during the 2022 monsoon floods in Pakistan, which left 1/3 of children with malnutrition. I launched an urgent campaign to raise awareness and funds. Yet I didn’t have to look past Houston to see food insecurity firsthand.

In Houston, nearly 30% of low-income residents live in food deserts (areas where access to fresh, affordable food is scarce). In one of the most multi-cultural cities of the country, this issue impacts a diverse community—over 644,710 people in my home county of Harris alone. It affects the most vulnerable members of our community, impacting their health, well-being, and—for the 1 in 4 children in Houston who are food insecure—even their education.

Access to fresh and healthy produce is a basic human right, and by addressing food insecurity, I realized I could bridge socio-economic divides in my city. That’s when the idea for Food for Friends was born.”

Japteg Singh-Bamrah

Our top winner this year was Japteg Sing-Bamrah. In addition to the scholarship award, Japteg will also receive an additional $5,000 to continue work on his project.

Project: Solar Mech Machine

Japteg saw a need, and sought to make it better. In an effort to make farming more efficient and sustainable, Japteg designed, created, and implemented an innovative renewable energy solution. He wrote, “India, being an agrarian country, faces two major challenges in rural development: electricity availability and post-harvest losses. In many areas of my community in Punjab, over 40% of post-harvest produce is lost due to inadequate electricity, lack of dryers, and insufficient cold storage facilities. These losses lead to severe financial setbacks for farmers, contributing significantly to the growing number of farmer suicides.

There is an urgent need to adopt renewable energy solutions that can operate in standalone, hybrid, or combined heat and power (CHP) modes. However, without adequate government support, such technologies remain unaffordable for most farmers. After conducting cost and feasibility analyses—considering renewable sources, economic viability, and mean sunshine hours—I discovered the potential of a Stirling cycle-based CHP system to convert external heat into mechanical power.

Following my selection at the Jigyasa Hackathon, I received mentorship at CSIR-IIIM Jammu. Through extensive design analysis, load calculations, and CAD modeling, we developed a functional prototype—SolarMech—a solar CHP system using air pressure as the working fluid. This innovation presents a promising, sustainable solution to the dual challenges of power scarcity and post-harvest losses in rural India.”

Congratulations to this year’s winners. Stay tuned for coming posts spotlighting each of our winners, with more details about their projects!

To learn more about our scholarship and what was required of these amazing winners, click here.

Preparing Today’s Youth for Adulthood

The other day, I was taking a much needed break, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, and stopped when I saw a meme one of my good friends had posted. I chuckled as I read the meme: “I’m glad I learned about parallelograms in high school instead of how to do my taxes. It comes in handy during parallelogram season.” 

It’s funny because it’s true— I remember sitting in some of my high school classes thinking about how I would likely never use some of the things I was being taught. I honestly don’t remember the last time I had to use the quadratic formula or had to recall the steps/process of photosynthesis. Unless you enter a career field that will use those specific skills and bits of knowledge, you likely won’t use them much in your adult life (or at least until your kids come home from school needing help on their homework!). 

When I was in high school, the requirements to graduate didn’t include any kind of class that taught life skills type of content. You know, the stuff that you use on a fairly regular basis as an adult— budgeting, retirement/savings plans, household tasks like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, basic car maintenance, simple household fixes, basic sewing, and so on. Had my parents not done a pretty good job teaching me these skills, I would have been pretty lost when I moved out on my own. While a good majority of high school students have a parent or guardian they can turn to with life skills questions, many do not. What if, rather than expecting kids to just suddenly know how to be an adult and take care of adult responsibilities, we teach them how to do this and require them to take a class covering these skills prior to graduating?

I know there are many elective courses students can take that teach them these basic life skills. But they are just that— elective. Not every student is going to choose to take a sewing or cooking class. Not every student will want to sit through a financial literacy course. However, I am certain that if they were required to do so, they would come out on the other side more equipped to enter the adult world and carry adult-level responsibilities. 

There are many students who would greatly benefit from a course like this. It would provide an excellent opportunity for kids to get hands-on experience with the skills necessary for adult life while still under the care of an experienced adult, and would also give them the chance to make mistakes and learn from them before the cost of said mistakes is higher. 

I am sure there are already high schools out there who are integrating some kind of adult-readiness courses, and that’s amazing! It would be even more amazing if all schools nation wide would see the value of such a course and would add it to the list of required courses prior to graduation. Besides, I think it would be a fun class to take— and teach!

When we equip the next generation with the tools they will need in life, they will enter the adult world more confident, more knowledgeable, and more prepared to take on the responsibilities that come with being an adult, and that’s something that we can all benefit from. Knowledge is power, so let’s do our best to arm our students with the knowledge they need to succeed!

Final Scholarship Reminder!

It’s time for your final scholarship application reminder/tip! Can you believe that applications are due in just SIX days?! It’s so exciting! I’ve really enjoyed reading through the applications that have been submitted so far– there are some really neat projects in the works!

Remember that all applications must be submitted no later than Monday, April 7, 2025 at 11:59 pm MST.

Before you push that “submit” button, please double check a few things:

  • Proofread your application– read over and correct any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors you may find.
  • Double (or triple) check that all email addresses, phone numbers, and names are correctly entered on your application. If we can’t contact you, your mentor, high school, or planned college, we won’t be able to proceed in the event that your project is chosen as a finalist.
  • Please make sure your pictures are uploaded in a publish-able format. For the photo requirement, we cannot accept photos that are submitted in a Google slide show or a video. You can definitely add photos to your required video, but we also need them uploaded separately. If you choose to share them with us via Google Drive, please make sure you have checked the share settings. It seems obvious, but I can’t view your photos if I don’t have access to the file.
  • Don’t skip over the video requirement! If you don’t submit a video that meets the requirements we have posted here, we will not be able to consider your application. Again, please check the link or share settings to make sure they work.

Should you have any questions, you can contact us via email at scholarship@honorsgraduation.com.

Lastly, take a minute and breathe! You are doing amazing things!

Weekly Scholarship Reminder

Here is your weekly scholarship reminder/tip!

All applications for this year’s Build A Better Scholarship are due on or before Monday, April 7, 2025 at 11:59 pm MST. That’s just 12 days away!

Before submitting, please make sure to double or triple check that your contact information for yourself, mentor, and high school is correct. On your application, you need to include:

  • Your email and phone number
  • Your mentor’s email and phone number (this must be someone who is directly involved in your project)
  • Your high school name, phone number, and city
  • Name, email, and phone number for the registrar or secretary from your high school
  • Name of the college, trade school, or university you will be attending in the fall

You can find other weekly reminders here and here.

If you have any other questions, you can check out our scholarship page here, or can send us an email at scholarship@honorsgraduation.com.

Scholarship Reminder: Photos & Videos

This week’s scholarship reminder and tip is about submitting your videos and pictures! Since we can’t physically meet with every single applicant to see their project in action, we need you to SHOW us your work in the form of photos and videos. Both video and photos are required to be considered as a scholarship winner. Below, I have included the specific requirements and guidelines for both photo and video submission. The requirements listed below are exactly what you will find on the application.

Video Requirements:

*2-5 minutes
*Must be edited to include:
-Examples of your work in action (photos, video clips, etc.)
-A few words directly from you regarding your project (can be voice-over)
*Include 1-3 brief interviews with people you are working with
*Must address the following questions:
-What would you improve with more time?
-What new skills or concepts have you acquired?
-What have you learned about yourself based on the experience?

***IMPORTANT*** Please make sure your video is viewable. Please check the share settings before submitting it. You can choose to upload a Google Drive folder containing your video OR you can upload or link a YouTube video you made.

Photo Requirements:

We would love to see evidence of your project and work! Photos could include, but are not limited to: pictures of brochures/handouts/advertisements you created to go with your project, pictures of your physical prototype, if applicable, and pictures of you in action– giving a presentation, working with your community, building your project, etc. You are the magic behind your project– take pride in it and document yourself making a difference, then share it with us!

Please share photos of publish-able image quality of your work. A minimum of 5 photos is required, but more is encouraged. 

Failure to upload images will result in disqualification. Uploading images directly or providing a link to a Google Drive folder of photos is acceptable. Providing photos in a video slideshow, PDF page, PowerPoint, social media account, or any other non-publishable way will result in disqualification. 

You can find additional application requirements and other information here. As a reminder, applications are due on April 7, 2025 at 11:59 MST.

Scholarship Reminder!

Just a friendly reminder that final application submissions for this year’s Build A Better Future Scholarship are due by Monday, April 7, 2025 at 11:59 MST. Prior to submitting your application, please ensure you have met all requirements, have all pictures and videos correctly uploaded to the form, and that all contact and school information is accurate.

You can find the application as well as our FAQ page here. Should you have any further questions, please reach out to us via email at scholarship@honorsgraduation.com.

We can’t wait to see the amazing projects you have been working on!

New Logo, Who Dis?

The time has come to unveil the new branding for our scholarship! As I stepped into the role of scholarship chair and content writer, I began noticing some variations in the way that those who came before me referred to the scholarship. The original name for our scholarship was the Design A Better Future scholarship (which I’m assuming came from the fact that the projects needs to be based on the design thinking cycle). But as the years went on, it also started being referred to as the Build A Better future scholarship and both titles started being used interchangeably.

In order to *hopefully* limit future confusion, I decided to update the scholarship logo and declare one title to be the official title from now on. The HGU scholarship will henceforth be known as the Build A Better Future scholarship. I felt as though using the verb “design” was too passive and wasn’t giving our applicants enough credit. Yes, they are using the design thinking cycle but they are also going above and beyond to bring their designs to life.

design a better future scholarship high school seniors

In addition to updating the logo and title, the website has been updated with all the information needed for our 2023 scholarship! I look forward to seeing how the next group of applicants works on building a better future for their communities. If you or anyone you know is a high school senior that will be graduating in 2023, you can find more information regarding the scholarship here and here. Please email scholarship@honorsgraduation.com with any questions. Good luck!