North Lenoir senior attracts $800,000 in scholarship offers
North Lenoir High School senior Ahmad Zayyad is weighing his best next step in light of more than $800,000 in scholarship offers from multiple universities.
Having amassed more than $800,000 in scholarship offers, North Lenoir High School senior Ahmad Zayyad has some deciding to do.
Wake Forest University? Johns Hopkins? Duke? University of North Carolina? N.C. State?
“He has received offers from lots of places,” Treva Romig, a school counselor at North Lenoir, said. “He’s just weighing out his different options.”
Already in the bag is the Magnolia Scholarship from Wake Forest, a scholarship worth $73,000 annually that goes to 30 entering students each year. Enticing, of course, but not enough to completely tip the scales.
“I’m keeping my options open,” Ahmad said. “I’m going to do the tours soon. I want to look at where I feel like I would belong. That’s something that will happen soon.”
As much as the financial assistance, two factors could figure into his decision – a long-held desire to pursue a career in medicine and a preference for continuing his education in North Carolina, close to home.
“Medicine has been something on the top of my mind forever now. It’s something I’ve committed myself to doing,” Ahmad said. As a dual-enrollment student at Lenoir Community College, he expects to leave high school with an associate of science degree from LCC in addition to his diploma. He plans to earn a bachelor of science degree in biology before heading to medical school.
The preference for proximity is the natural result of growing up in a close-knit family, a family that values tradition and prizes education.
“I come from a Muslim household and we’ve always been raised on family tradition. It’s a very loving family. Having that is really special to me,” Ahmad said.
Parents Bahjat and Samah Zayyad have lived in Kinston for more than two decades and have already sent three daughters off to UNC-Wilmington. (A fourth Zayyad daughter is a sophomore at North Lenoir.) “They want us to be educated. Not only is it good for ourselves, it’s good for the community around us. It’s something that we pride ourselves in, as a family especially,” the Zayyad son said.
“Staying in state is something that I’d want to do, but I did have a talk with my family and if it is a special opportunity they are always supportive of me and want me to do what’s best for me.”
Johns Hopkins University expressed its interest early, flying Ahmad up to Baltimore for an all-expense-paid Senior Weekend in October. He expects to hear more from the university next month.
He was named a finalist for the Goodnight Scholarship to N.C. State and a semi-finalist for a National Honor Society Scholarship. There’s a scholarship offer from UNC on the table and recently Ahmad interviewed with Duke University.
“He’s excited but very humble about all of these opportunities,” Romig said. “He has been very sure to not commit to anything before he’s sure of what it is.”
Wherever he goes, Ahmad will bring to the campus a record of academic achievement – top five in his class – and student leadership.
He is president of North Lenoir’s National Honor Society and HOSA, a club that prepares students for health-care occupations. He is co-president of the school’s Science Olympiad Club and co-founder of Project Please Stay, which promotes awareness of mental health issues. He has been a class representative to the Student Government Association throughout high school.
At LCC, he is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and a President’s List student.
“I’ve been working for my whole high school career. Everything that’s happened this year is all from the hard work I’ve been doing,” Ahmad said. “I feel relieved.”
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
