Shubha Gautam is the newest CPS Presidential Scholar, continuing a longtime tradition
Rock Bridge High School senior Shubha Gautam on Thursday was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar, probably the highest honor a high school student can achieve.
The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars elects students annually based on academic success and other measures. She is one of 161 high school seniors selected for the 60th anniversary of the awards. For Columbia Public Schools, Shubha is its 24th winner, the most of any district in the state.
The other Missouri academic winner was Santosh Manikandan, of Liberty High School in Wentzville.
"I was really surprised when I got the notification," Shubha said on Friday at Rock Bridge on her last day of classes. "But it feels good. It's a nice recognition for the stuff I've done in high school."
She took Advanced Placement literature and AP chemistry this year, but took more and more difficult courses earlier in her high school years.
"I think AP Physics is pretty hard," Shubha said. "And besides that, I took some math classes at Mizzou. Those weren't too bad."
She's a co-editor-in-chief of the student news magazine, Southpaw and the online Bearing News.
Her favorite stories have included a co-written in-depth look at the school district's 2021-22 Annual Performance Report scores. She wrote another piece about absurdism that she likes.
"I think I'll always write," Shubha said.
She's on the Youth Advisory Council, advising the Columbia City Council and city government.
She's director of INTERGIRLS an international math organization for girls and non-binary students. It conducts math tournaments and activities.
Andrew Kinslow was an influential teacher for her, she said.
Kinslow also said Shubha was a great student.
"Shubha has three strengths in her academics that set her apart from other students: content knowledge, organization and work ethic," Kinslow wrote in an email. "Academically, she is sharp, always prepared, and performs in the top 1% of my classes. She is very organized and conscientious, always responding quickly to emails and taking care of her coursework in a timely fashion. She is very hard-working and a team player. She will undoubtedly change the world for the better wherever she lands in the future. It has been an honor to learn alongside her these past few years."
She also participated in demanding field internships in the summers of 2021 and 2022, Kinslow said.
"During the summers of 2021 and 2022 Shubha participated in my Field Ecology internship and was a delight to work with," Kinslow wrote "This class is very unusual in that it occurs entirely in the field, working in hard conditions. We primarily focus on banding wild birds for research purposes."
It requires students who are dependable and trustworthy and Shubha was both, he wrote.
Her high school years weren't always easy, she said.
A perfectionist, she put pressure on herself to improve on every assignment. It caused her stress and anxiety and she missed two months of her sophomore year.
Kinslow helped her through that, she said.
"He did a lot," Shubha said. "He got me into conservation and being outside more. He really went above and beyond."
She decided to write about everything on her Presidential Scholar application, she said.
"I talked a lot about Palestine and a rally the students held," Shubha said. "I also had a long essay on my mental health struggles."
She thought both would count against her in the selection, she said.
Next for Shuba is Cornell University, where she has been accepted as one of around 100 Meinig Family Scholars. She plans to major in math or physics.
Her sister Shruti is studying law at Harvard.
The previous most recent CPS Presidential Scholar was Kyle Chen in 2022.
Shubha graduates with her fellow seniors at 7 p.m. May 17.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. He can be reached at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Rock Bridge High School senior Shubha Gautam is a Presidential Scholar
