Ocoee High School’s first Super Scholar heading to Brown

For Ocoee High School senior Brian Vo, 17, receiving his acceptance letter — along with a full-ride scholarship — to study at Brown University is a dream come true.

“It means everything to me,” he said. “This moment has been building up for so many years, and I’ve (always) dreamed of the day when I would open my college acceptance letters. I just feel like all the work that I’ve put in for all my years of high school have built up to this moment, and it feels like such a relief to finally have the confirmation that next year I’ll be going to college, and I won’t have to worry about any funding for my education.”

Vo matched with Brown through QuestBridge’s Match Scholarship, a program that grants recipients of the scholarship admission to one of QuestBridge’s college partners along with a full four-year scholarship worth more than $200,000. According to QuestBridge’s website, the scholarship covers tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies and travel expenses, and there will be no parental contribution and no student loans.

During his junior year, Vo was accepted to QuestBridge’s College Prep Scholars program, where he received education on how to apply for the National College Match scholarship, which is only available for high school seniors. Through the Match Scholarship program, Vo also applied to Yale, Princeton, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Since I was little, I’ve always been sort of an Ivy League fanatic,” he said. “My spectrum of schools I wanted to go to has definitely expanded over the last two years, but of course, Ivy Leagues are where you always start looking because you (know) those are the top schools in the country and, obviously, the world.”

Looking ahead, Vo already knows what he wants to study in college — and even what type of concentration he wants to pursue parallel to his major. In fact, part of the reason he believes he matched with Brown University through the QuestBridge’s Match Scholarship was because of the passion behind one of his supplemental application essays.

“I wrote about my aspiration to become a surgeon in the future,” he said. “Not just become a surgeon and study natural sciences like biology and neuroscience but also how I want to incorporate maybe a concentration or a minor in ethnic studies or Asian American studies.”

The reason for this lies in Vo’s desire to contribute his knowledge to the ethics and social aspects of current medicine that may be, in Vo’s opinion, often overlooked.

“I want to sort of reform the medical field by showing that these minority groups can receive the same sort of treatments that may not be available now because of socioeconomic backgrounds or racial backgrounds,” he said. “I want to bridge the gap in the medical field, because now, in today’s society, there is a breach between the science of medicine but also the ethics side of medicine. I want to learn and be able to study both sides and be able to incorporate that into my future practice for all my patients.”

Despite his interest in medicine, Vo didn’t always want to be a surgeon. Back in elementary school, he loved mathematics — when all it tested him with was addition and multiplication tables. Then, in middle school, Vo discovered a passion for astrophysics as he became curious to know everything about the universe and how it came to be.

“Going into high school, I actually was placed in a biomedical class,” he said. “We had Principles of Biomedical Sciences here, and that’s when I really developed a love for the medical field. … One thing that really drew my attention the most were anatomy and physiology, because I wanted to know how different systems in the body worked. I just found it so interesting that these little pieces in our bodies all worked together to form what we are today.”

Because of his involvement with the college and career counselors and his initiative to start sharing college prep courses information, SAT and ACT courses information, as well as new scholarship opportunities, Vo was asked if he’d like to become a college and career ambassador at Ocoee High School. A lot of his knowledge about college and career processes Vo owes to a former Ocoee Knight who now attends Yale University — Kobe Yang.

“So, at the beginning of this year, my college and career counselors had seen what I was doing and they came up to me as asked ‘Brian, how would you feel about being a college and career ambassador?’” he said. “So, this was the first year that we actually had student ambassadors helping out with the college and career processes here.”

Through the QuestBridge’s Match Scholarship process, Vo became Ocoee High School’s first Super Scholar.

“It means everything, because since the beginning of this year — even since last year —(I have been able) to sort of be an example of what the students here at Ocoee can achieve,” he said.  “Even my closest friends didn’t think they could apply to these scholarships and win anything so, being the first one of our class and the first match recipient from QuestBridge of the school means a lot because I feel like I’m setting an example for future generations of this school.”

For his first semester at Brown, Vo already has looked at some of the classes he’d like to take — and because the school has an open curriculum, he has the option to pick any class that catches his eye.

“I’m not constrained to any major requirements or taking STEM classes,” Vo said. “Some of the classes that interest me are introduction to biology and neuroscience. Brown actually has a really good neuroscience institute that I can study at.”

With his senior year half way done, and the majority of his life dedicated to academics, Vo has a deep appreciation for everything his years at school have taught him.

“Academics is such an important part of my life, because not only I can receive a great education and build on my knowledge and form aspirations for the future, but school is also where I have formed the greatest relationships of my life,” he said. “My childhood friends from elementary school are still my best friends today. I’ve met so many teachers and adults over the years and they’ve taught me so many lessons. I feel like academics is not just in the classroom but everything that happens in the school environment that has shaped me in so many different ways and I wouldn’t have it any other way because I wouldn’t be the person I am today without school.”