Jesuit High School senior Jenny Duan was recently named a 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholar by the U.S. Secretary of Education, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students.
The 161 high school seniors being honored as the 58th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars have achieved phenomenal accomplishments in academics, the arts, career/technical education fields, and in service to the community. One male student and one female student were selected per state to receive this award.
"I feel incredibly humbled to be able to represent my communities through this award," says Jenny. "To me, being a Presidential Scholar creates a platform where I can further advocate towards justice and positive change in our country. I hope to inspire others to pursue their passions with curiosity, dedication, and a lens of care towards those around us."
The other student selected from Oregon for this award, Kyler Wang of Lincoln High School, has been a long-time friend of Jenny's. When Jenny found out she and Kyler were the only two students selected from Oregon, she immediately called him to share the exciting news– which happened to be at 6 am in the morning. The two, along with the other 159 U.S. Presidential Scholars, will be honored in a virtual ceremony in June.
During her four years at Jesuit, Jenny has competed on the Ethics Bowl team, founded Jesuit's Mental Health Awareness Club, and collaborated on DEI initiatives. Outside of school, she participates in civic advocacy through the Oregon Chinese Coalition, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, the Asian American Youth Leadership Conference, and Rose Haven. Jenny is also Jesuit's first-ever Rose Festival Princess. In addition to her involvement in the community, she has been recognized as a two-time National Merit Finalist, a recipient of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal, and the winner of the 2022 Elks Most Valuable Student and Heisman School scholarships.
"I'm inspired by my fellow Presidential Award scholars and am grateful to the faculty at Jesuit who have supported me throughout my academic and application process," says Jenny.
Jenny will be attending Stanford University in the fall where she will be studying Symbolic Systems, an interdisciplinary major combing computer science, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, and statistics.
Congratulations, Jenny, for this well-deserved honor.