Find purpose and strength in the people and things that you love and care about. Live life to the fullest doing it your own way. Don’t try to be someone else, because at the end of the day, only you can ever truly be you – Jai Garlapati, 2024 Asian Chamber Scholarship Recipient.

In pursuit of educational excellence among the next generation of young local Asian community students, the Asian Chamber of Commerce named three Indian American high school graduates, Jai Nikhil Garlapati, Diva Saxena, and Vishnu Yadagani, as winners of the 2024 academic scholarship. The Chamber’s scholarship was initially named after the local Japanese American Bill Endow, who donated copious amounts to recognize local Asian-American high school students. All the scholarship recipients were honored by the Asian Chamber of Commerce for their exemplary academic, leadership, and volunteer work at their luncheon banquet.

Jai Nikhil Garlapati, an Ed. W. Clark High School graduate is joining the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, to continue higher studies in Computer Science. Garlapati is a Science Olympiad National Winner and American Invitational Math Examination Qualifier. At Clark High, he was the President of Mu Alpha Theta, a national high school and two-year college mathematics honor society. In accepting the scholarship, Garlapati thanked his family for supporting his ambitions. “I didn’t really feel like it, and the LVACC committee for choosing me as a scholarship recipient. Our minds are always etched with one main idea: Success. Why? We think it’s what puts us over others; it makes us feel good about ourselves, it makes us…feel like we have meaning”, said Garlapati. 

Garlapati continued with his exemplary speech: In college, I hope to not forget that, try new things and experiences with my friends and go through the hard times together. The dreams and goals we had as kids are forgotten slowly by the burden of life. That’s why don’t focus on doing something solely for the fact of success, but that it makes you happy. Find purpose and strength in the people and things that you love and care about. Live life to the fullest doing it your own way. Don’t try to be someone else, because at the end of the day, only you can ever truly be you.”

Diva Saxena, also a W. Clark High School graduate, plans to pursue an Economics and Human & Organizational Development degree at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. At Clark, Saxena was the co-president of DECA, formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, captain of the Clark’s Speech and Debate team, national merit finalist, and international DECA Champion. Additionally, Saxena is the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Finalist.

“I feel honored to be nominated for this scholarship today, and I would first like to thank the Asian Chamber of Commerce as a whole for offering me this opportunity and assistance as I embark on a new chapter of my life. Next, I would like to thank my family, here in the audience today, for supporting me throughout my college journey, from the moment I made my Common App account back in August to the second I pressed submit on my Enrollment Deposit at Vanderbilt,” said Saxena in her acceptance speech.

An ardent fan of Shark Tank, Saxena decided to pursue her entrepreneurial wish by focusing on her academic career’s business and economics sides. “With this knowledge, I hope to enter into the consulting field and specialize in Marketing, pursuing my Shark Tank aspirations,” said Saxena.

Vishnu Yadagani, Valedictorian from West Career & Technical Academy, plans to pursue a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. At West Tech, Yadagani was a member of the Science Olympiad and played baseball. Yadagani is the National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Accepting the scholarship, Yadagani said, “My parents come first as they have supported me throughout my whole life and provided me with everything that I ever asked for.” He continued, “My ultimate goal is to become successful in whatever way possible that I can. I want to achieve the best I can in every aspect of my life and keep raising the bar for myself higher and higher.”