• Current Scholars
• Alumni
• Dream Big
• Scholar Travels
• Scholar Art & Music
• Scholar Stories
• The Scholar Experience

Alina Jennings

Biography

Highlights of Young Scholar Experience: Like many other Young Scholars embarking on their college careers, Alina quickly points out that being a Young Scholar “changed my life.” In addition to the many educational opportunities (programs at Johns Hopkins, Oxbridge and Brown Universities) that she participated in, she enjoyed meeting and learning from the community of scholars and advisors involved in the program.

Profile: Alina’s love of learning and her wide variety of passions were inspired early in her childhood. A standout student and leader at her high school, she always gave her best in all her endeavors, including an incredible number of extracurricular activities. In addition to her course work and afterschool activities, Alina has a special interest in science and sought and obtained a research internship at Vanderbilt University. The young Ivy League-bound Tennessean also loves to read just about anything and everything. Books are the ultimate gift and she said she challenges herself to learn as much as she possibly can about every subject. She is most proud of founding and leading the Academic Quiz Bowl Club at Ensworth High School. “I always expend my best effort in doing the things that I do”.

Inspiration: While Alina finds it difficult to single out just one of her many fine and dedicated teachers, she says her “greatest mentor has been my mother.” It was her mother that gently encouraged Alina to put forth her best effort. “From a young age, I was engaged in discussions with my mother, who would encourage me to have an open mind and think. Thus, I have always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge.”

Aspiration: Alina plans to start her career in the sciences at Princeton University. Her “passions lay in the research sciences” and she loves the day-to-day investigative work taking place in labs.

Making a Difference: Alina has always been interested in exploring science through experiments and research and was thrilled when she landed an internship in a pharmacology lab at Vanderbilt University. The independent research she performed there was the basis for a research paper which she submitted to the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. “I was proud to learn that I was one of five semifinalists from Tennessee and that my work had been recognized by such a prestigious organization.”

Accolades: Not only was she named a national Semifinalist in the aforementioned Siemens Foundation’s Competition, she is also a National Merit Scholar. She was named an AP Scholar with Honor by the College Board after her junior year in addition to earning numerous school awards. As well as leading the Academic Quiz Bowl Club, Alina was the Captain of the Ensworth Mock Trial Team.

Interesting fact: Alina enjoys playing the piano and viola.
 

Other Scholars Like Alina