After putting herself in a position to graduate from South Lenoir High School and earn an associate degree from Lenoir Community College in three years, the next challenge for Pari Patel is winning a Goodnight Scholarship to NC State University, for which she is a finalist.

When she was in the ninth grade, Pari Patel put herself on a fast track to graduation. Three years later she’s within reach of a high school diploma and an associate degree from Lenoir Community College – and a top merit scholarship to North Carolina State University.

The 16-year-old senior at South Lenoir High School is a finalist for the Goodnight Scholarship, a four-year scholarship worth $22,000 a year that aims to bring high-performing students interested in STEM careers to the Raleigh campus.

That would be Pari.

“I think NC State is the one for me,” she said this week. “I think it’s an amazing, beautiful campus and I just really like the place.”

The university’s top-ranked computer science program also fits with Pari’s career plans – a computer science major and work in computer programming with an altruistic twist. “I also want to go back and teach because that’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve always wanted to help people. I want to help other people with computer science,” she said.

Currently, she tutors LCC students and Lenoir County Early College High School students in math – almost all the students are older than the teacher – but except for that work, her time on the South Lenoir Battle of the Books team and her attendance last summer at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Program at NCSU, Pari’s schedule has left little time for extracurricular activities.

“I kind of had this one thing and I really wanted to do it,” she said.

Her goal of a very early graduation took shape when she was a high school freshman and, because of her academic performance at Woodington Middle School, was able to start taking college classes. With guidance from her school counselor and the college liaison from LCC, she crafted a schedule that essentially compressed her sophomore and junior years into one year of high school.

“I’ve been taking like six courses a semester since I was a freshman. I finished all my high school classes last year and had half my degree from LCC already,” she said. “I knew I could do it and I wanted to do something different. I want to do something that is challenging to me.”

Her next challenge is the March 4 interview in Raleigh for the 100 Goodnight finalists – those seniors chosen from the 900 invited by scholarship administrators to apply. This year, with Pari’s classmate Zaire Garner, South Lenoir High has two students in the top 100.

“South Lenoir High School is so proud of these phenomenal students,” principal Elizabeth Pierce said. “Both Pari and Zaire are hard-working, determined individuals that will go on to accomplish remarkable goals in the future. We are thankful to have them as a part of our Blue Devil family.  

Typically, about 50 seniors are chosen for the Goodnight.