Rayona Young
Pittsburg High School,
Pittsburg, Calif.
Rayona Young, the first Pittsburg High School student ever accepted by MIT, is an environmentalist and vegetarian in a meat-and-potatoes family. As a member of the school's Earth Team club, she supports environmental sustainability and plans to major in mechanical engineering.
"She just goes about doing the things she wants to do and doesn't expect any praise or glory afterward," Pat Diokno, her high school counselor, told the Contra Costa Times.
Young, a third-degree black belt in karate, took three years of calculus and physics courses at Diablo Valley College.
