Aydan Leeds-Peralta, a student at Madison Highland Prep, was recently awarded the prestigious Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship. The NROTC Scholarship awards scholarships through a highly competitive national selection process of examining academic records, test scores, leadership and athletics, as well as participating in an interview.
The scholarship covers full tuition, book stipend, educational fees, and other financial entitlements at many of the country's best colleges and universities. "I applied for this scholarship program because it aligns perfectly with what I plan to do for my future. I know I want to serve in the military and I know I want to get a degree in engineering and thanks to this scholarship, it's all a big win," stated Leeds-Peralta.
Choosing to major in astronautical engineering, Leeds-Peralta's top-choice for post-secondary education is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Although he is still waiting to hear back from the esteemed university, Leeds-Peralta says he has also applied to Caltech, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford.