Maine West Student Named a Coca-Cola Scholar Semifinalist

Pratiksha Bhattacharyya, a senior at Maine West, has been named a Semifinalist for the 2022 class of the Coca-Cola Scholars Program. She now moves to the next round of the selection process to potentially become a Coca-Cola Scholar and receive a $20,000 college scholarship.

There were just 1,617 high school seniors from across the country, and just 73 from Illinois, selected as semifinalists from a pool of over 68,000 submitted applications from across the country based on their academic excellence, leadership, and service demonstrated in school and community activities. The semifinalists are in the running for 150 college scholarships worth $20,000.

Semifinalists will participate in Phase 2 applications, which include essays, a recommendation, and transcripts. An independent selection committee will review the applications and select 250 Regional Finalists by the end of January to participate in online interviews. The 150 Coca-Cola Scholars will be named in March to receive a $20,000 college scholarship and participate in the Coca-Cola Scholars Leadership Development Institute facilitated by program alumni.

Pratiksha was recently honored by the District 207 Board of Education as a recipient of a 207s Best honor for academic achievement. She earned that award for consistently challenging herself and excelling in the most rigorous courses offered in District 207. She earned National Merit Commended status and is a member of the National Honor Society. She participates in Link Crew, COACH Tutors, Key Club, Math Team, Medical Club, the Westerner (school newspaper), the Indian Student Association, and the Math, Science, and Social Science Honor societies.

She is still determining where and what she will study in college but feels drawn to health care, and is deciding between several areas: practice, policy, or medical technology development. She shadowed an endocrinologist as part of the district's career experience focus but is keeping her options open on what area she plans to specialize.