Payal Agrawal, daughter of Subhash and Kusum Agrawal, graduated from the Academy of Notre Dame High School in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts on Sunday, May 23rd. She graduated Valedictorian of her class and plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Payal and her family reside in Dracut, Massachusetts, where they have been living for the past six years. Her two older sisters, Pooja Agrawal and Poonum Agrawal, live in Houston, Texas and Washington, D.C, respectively. Pooja, age 25, graduated from Purdue University and works at NASA as an Aerospace Engineer. Poonum, age 29, completed her undergraduate degree at Tufts University and earned a masters at MIT. She currently works at the Department of Energy (DOE) as an Engineer and Program Manager.

Payal has been an active member of her school community. She was the President of the National Honor Society and Vice President of the Student Council. She also participated in Amnesty International and the Instrumentalist Club. She has been playing the flute for ten years, and volunteered to play at various school events and functions. She was also a three-season Varsity athlete, participating in soccer, basketball, and softball. She was the captain of the Varsity soccer team, and she plans to play Varsity soccer at MIT. She participated in many community service projects, and was an overall integral part of her school community.

Payal has been active not only during the school year but also during the summers with her education. She has participated in the Brandeis Summer Odyssey Physics and Multimedia Courses, Brandeis Summer Odyssey Computer Science Directed Research, Clark University Summer Science Program, and Presidential Classroom Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program.

Payal has also embraced her Indian culture and Hindu religion. She is fluent in both spoken and written Hindi. After learning a lot about Hinduism from her parents, Payal continued to learn more through the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Swadhyay, which are both groups that strive to educate about and practice the Hindu religion. After many years of learning Western classical flute, Payal learned some Indian classical ragas under the guidance of her sister, Pooja. She also learned bharatnatyam and folk dance for a couple of years under Jasmine Shah. Of course, she is also an avid Bollywood fan!

Payal has received many awards and recognitions throughout her high school career. She was accepted into the Who’s Who Among American High School Students and is a National Merit Commended Scholar. She has received the United States Achievement Academy National Science Merit Award, the United States Achievement Academy National Student Council Award, the National Student Athlete Day Award, and the first-ever in school “Nobel Prize” for an Outstanding Chemistry Research Project.

Payal is excited about entering MIT this coming fall; it was a dream come true for her! She wants to use the knowledge she attains at MIT not only to shape the world of technology, but also to add to humanitarian endeavors. Payal hopes to continue to succeed and shape the 21st century with her work in the future.

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