students Archives - Merit Educational Consultants

Last month, TEDxMeritAcademy hosted an inspiring event featuring seven talented teen speakers who showcased their innovative projects aimed at making a positive impact on the world. This year, the event was hosted at the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, CA. Each young visionary shared their unique ideas, from groundbreaking environmental solutions to cutting-edge technologies and social initiatives. Their presentations captivated the audience, highlighting the power of youth-driven innovation and the potential for these projects to transform communities and industries alike. The event served as a platform for these extraordinary teens to inspire others to think creatively and take action toward meaningful change.

Brandon Xu

The 2020 Northern Complex Fire destroyed 318, 935 acres of land and turned the skies over Northern California a dark orange from chemicals trapping carbon dioxide particles. As a middle schooler, Brandon Xu vividly remembers the acrid air and wondered what could be done to mitigate these types of natural disasters in the future. As a senior, he investigated whether mycelium, fungal threads that grow in the soil beneath mushrooms, could be used to create a drywall alternative that holds up to construction standards. Not only will his mycelium wall be better in disaster situations, it also reduces carbon emissions.

Miles Elliott

Globally, we have reached a staggering 400 million tons of plastic consumption each year. Americans use an average of .75 pounds of plastic on a daily basis–that’s like throwing away over 35 pens worth of plastic every day. While some replacement bioplastics exist, Miles Elliott, a senior in the Bay Area, wanted to see if he could add to the conversation by focusing on plastics for household use. He created a bioplastic film alternative made from potato, alfalfa, and kelp and discovered that not only was it a viable replacement, but it even looked as clear as the “real” thing!

Abigail Mathew

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety rates have risen by 25% and one in five teens experiences symptoms of anxiety or depression. When confronted with growing anxiety among her peers, sophomore Abigail Mathew used her enthusiasm for homeopathic remedies to explore an alternative medication without some of the harsh side effects of prescription anxiety meds. Her research led her to passion flower, a plant native to the southeastern US, that has been used in conjunction with other herbs as an anxiety treatment before, but never studied independently. Preliminary studies show a positive correlation between heart rate reduction and passion flower use.

Katie Luong

It is no secret that the education system in the United States is chronically underfunded. Schools across America suffer from massive teacher shortages, a lack of up-to-date technological resources, and a problem with both physical and mental student safety. To solve these problems, Bay Area senior Katie Luong looks to add to the Department of Education budget through a system of taxing the wealthiest 1%, 0.1%, and 0.01% of Americans using a sliding scale based on income. Her formula would see a negligible percentage of those Americans’ taxes being used to benefit millions of children across the country.

Isha Bajpai

Stories connect us, but with the growing digital divide between generations, it is harder for those narratives to be shared. More importantly, there is not a straightforward method for saving those stories for future generations. In an effort to “store the past in the future,” senior Isha Bajpai created Video Time Capsule, an app designed to make it easy for generations to share stories from their past without the confusion present in social media platforms. Inspired by stories of Isha’s family from India, the app provides prompts to help people feel comfortable sharing the stories that make them uniquely themselves.

Kaaviya Aravind

For years, Delhi has been labeled as one of the most polluted cities in the world as a result of burning waste, unchecked vehicle emissions, and firecrackers lit during religious celebrations. But while the air quality is so poor that at times it’s like smoking thirty cigarettes a day, small changes have been made and the daily AQI decreased by 29.4% from 2022 to 2023. Inspired by the communal changes made in her hometown, senior Kaaviya Aravind created PlanetPoints, an app that helps users see how their own small efforts towards sustainability can pay off in a big way.

December 29, 2024

Outstanding students talk about their innovative projects at TEDxMeritAcademy

Last month, TEDxMeritAcademy hosted an inspiring event featuring seven talented teen speakers who showcased their innovative projects aimed at making a positive impact on the world. This year, the event was hosted at the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, CA. Each young visionary shared their unique ideas, from groundbreaking environmental solutions to cutting-edge technologies and social initiatives. Their presentations captivated the audience, highlighting the power of youth-driven innovation and the potential for these projects to transform communities and industries alike. The event served as a platform for these extraordinary teens to inspire others to think creatively and take action toward meaningful change.

Brandon Xu

The 2020 Northern Complex Fire destroyed 318, 935 acres of land and turned the skies over Northern California a dark orange from chemicals trapping carbon dioxide particles. As a middle schooler, Brandon Xu vividly remembers the acrid air and wondered what could be done to mitigate these types of natural disasters in the future. As a senior, he investigated whether mycelium, fungal threads that grow in the soil beneath mushrooms, could be used to create a drywall alternative that holds up to construction standards. Not only will his mycelium wall be better in disaster situations, it also reduces carbon emissions.

Miles Elliott

Globally, we have reached a staggering 400 million tons of plastic consumption each year. Americans use an average of .75 pounds of plastic on a daily basis–that’s like throwing away over 35 pens worth of plastic every day. While some replacement bioplastics exist, Miles Elliott, a senior in the Bay Area, wanted to see if he could add to the conversation by focusing on plastics for household use. He created a bioplastic film alternative made from potato, alfalfa, and kelp and discovered that not only was it a viable replacement, but it even looked as clear as the “real” thing!

Abigail Mathew

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety rates have risen by 25% and one in five teens experiences symptoms of anxiety or depression. When confronted with growing anxiety among her peers, sophomore Abigail Mathew used her enthusiasm for homeopathic remedies to explore an alternative medication without some of the harsh side effects of prescription anxiety meds. Her research led her to passion flower, a plant native to the southeastern US, that has been used in conjunction with other herbs as an anxiety treatment before, but never studied independently. Preliminary studies show a positive correlation between heart rate reduction and passion flower use.

Katie Luong

It is no secret that the education system in the United States is chronically underfunded. Schools across America suffer from massive teacher shortages, a lack of up-to-date technological resources, and a problem with both physical and mental student safety. To solve these problems, Bay Area senior Katie Luong looks to add to the Department of Education budget through a system of taxing the wealthiest 1%, 0.1%, and 0.01% of Americans using a sliding scale based on income. Her formula would see a negligible percentage of those Americans’ taxes being used to benefit millions of children across the country.

Isha Bajpai

Stories connect us, but with the growing digital divide between generations, it is harder for those narratives to be shared. More importantly, there is not a straightforward method for saving those stories for future generations. In an effort to “store the past in the future,” senior Isha Bajpai created Video Time Capsule, an app designed to make it easy for generations to share stories from their past without the confusion present in social media platforms. Inspired by stories of Isha’s family from India, the app provides prompts to help people feel comfortable sharing the stories that make them uniquely themselves.

Kaaviya Aravind

For years, Delhi has been labeled as one of the most polluted cities in the world as a result of burning waste, unchecked vehicle emissions, and firecrackers lit during religious celebrations. But while the air quality is so poor that at times it’s like smoking thirty cigarettes a day, small changes have been made and the daily AQI decreased by 29.4% from 2022 to 2023. Inspired by the communal changes made in her hometown, senior Kaaviya Aravind created PlanetPoints, an app that helps users see how their own small efforts towards sustainability can pay off in a big way.

February 27, 2020

Boy Scout Sexual Abuse and Bankruptcy

Did you know that more children (mostly boys) have been sexually abused by their Boy Scout leaders than Catholic priests?  Over the past 72 years, more than 7,800 Boy Scout leaders have sexually abused over 12,000 children. This is appalling and it’s a tragedy. Parents get their boys engaged with the Scouts with the hope that their children will learn honor, skills, and service with mentors they can trust. These boys took their oaths and pledged to be obedient and honorable; sadly, some of their mentors took sexual liberties with the boys and have ruined their lives. The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy because of the hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits, thousands of alleged victims, and dwindling memberships across the United States. Because the Boy Scouts corporation has filed for bankruptcy, alleged victims who had pending lawsuits will now need to file NEW claims in bankruptcy court. That means that these victims lose their rights to a jury trial where they give depositions telling their stories and force the Boy Scout leaders to defend their actions. These Boy Scout leaders are accused of fondling, showing pornography, and forcing anal or oral sex. Like victims of sexual abuse from Catholic priests, these children were (are) preyed upon by people they trusted. How can we protect our children from predators who manipulate the programs so they get access to them? Parents really need to be involved in all aspects of their children’s education and extracurricular activities.  Seems that being present is the best way to deter sexual predators.  And, we need to imprison sex offenders to set precedent that sick pedophiles will be locked away.  The Catholic church and the Boy Scouts of America should not protect their priests and leaders from punishment for their crimes. [Source]
December 7, 2017

Why College Students Are Becoming Interested In Becoming Lawyers

The number of students who took the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) increased by nearly 20% this year. That’s the biggest jump in over 15 years. So why the sudden interest in law?

TRUMP!

As students have watched the Trump administration flagrantly misuse the law since January 2017, these students are starting to see the necessity for laws. Hmm. So whether or not you’re wanting more government, we are going to have more lawyers in the future. I think environmental law is going to be a booming industry soon.

December 7, 2017

International Students Aren’t Always Full Pay

Until recently, international students always paid full fare for their privilege to attend American colleges and universities. But that is changing because colleges are seeking those higher-caliber international students. To be competitive, colleges are offering scholarships to attract those top-notch students from abroad.

At public colleges, there’s been a bit of a backlash from in-state families because legislatures and constituents want public colleges to cater to the taxpayers who finance these institutions. Makes sense. So some public colleges offer modest non-need based scholarships to students they hope will matriculate to their colleges. These students receive scholarship dollars to offset the out-of-state tuition fees, but they rarely ever get a full ride (all tuition and housing fees). That’s reserved for well-deserving in-state students!

Private colleges, on the other hand, have more leeway to offer scholarships because their institutions don’t rely on public funds from taxpayers. So they don’t deal with politics the way public colleges do. If the college really wants a particular student, they now offer scholarships – even full rides – to sweeten the offer. That’s just like they do to entice American students to attend their colleges.

By giving scholarships to international students, it helps create a more global community of students who learn to work together as they prepare to solve major issues that we face as a civilization.