Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Alexandra Smith

Each week, Marple Newtown Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. This week we highlight National Achievement Scholarship semifinalist Alexandra Smith of Episcopal Academy.

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Alexandra "Alex" Smith

Whiz Kid's Age: 17

Whiz Kid's School:

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Episcopal Academy senior Alexandra Smith has been recognized as a semifinalist in the 48th Annual National Achievement Scholarship Program. More than 160,000 high school juniors throughout the nation requested consideration when they took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Alex is among the more than 1,600 scholastically talented young men and women who now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $2.4 million to be offered next spring. To be considered for a National Achievement Scholarship, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. 

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: "I'm really happy about it," shared Alex about reaching the semifinalist round. "I've worked hard for all the time I've been at EA. It's just a really nice honor."

Alex has been attending EA since kindergarten, and for the past 13 years she's made a name for herself but not without putting in the hard work.

"We work hard at EA and anything I need I get at EA," said Alex. "EA has a good backbone to have and they push you."

Alex credits her competitive spirit for her motivation to do well in school and in sports, who plays on the tennis and squash teams at EA. Now a senior, Alex isn't taking it easy this year and finishing off her last year of learning at EA strong by taking Calculus, AP Biology, Statistics, British Literature and Honors French.

Although she has a plateful of weighty subjects this year, "science and math are my favorite subjects," said Alex. "It's factual and it's not very ambiguous and logical. It all just makes sense and it's based on facts and I like that. A lot of it you can make sense of it."

Her love for science and math may help her in the future as she pursues a medical career. Though she doesn't want to "jinx" her chances for prospective schools by mentioning any specific colleges, Alex hopes to study pre-medical next fall.

With an affinity to math and science, Alex's aspirations towards a medical career–particularly a plastic surgeon someday–may have started from her family. Her father, a general surgeon, and her brother, who currently studies bio-medical sciences at the University of London, pursuing a career in the medical field was only natural. But those weren't the only reasons for Alex.

"My brother is also a diabetic," shared Alex. "I see my brother and he has to get injections everyday. It just made me want to be a doctor to help people be better about themselves and achieve what they want to achieve. That made me want to be a plastic surgeon."

Whether it's with her family, friends, teammates, or her coworkers at American Eagle in Suburban Square, Ardmore, or those in need when she volunteers to donate clothes to a teen-pregnancy shelter in Philadelphia, Alex said "it's a lot of fun to help people."

And with her future career as a plastic surgeon, Alex hopes to continue to help others in need.

"There are a lot of people who are born with deformities and a lot of people who want to change things about themselves," said Alex. "I'd like to help people feel better about themselves."

Editor's note: Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout or did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honoree. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Send nominations to jennifer.kim@patch.com.