Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Dorela Priftanji

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 Marple Newtown High School senior Dorela Priftanji who was recently featured as the student representative for the school on ABC's Best of the Class. She is the recipient of the four-year, prestigious Michael Reid Scholarship for her college of choice as well as a list of other awards and scholarships.

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Dorela Priftanji

Whiz Kid's Age: 18

Whiz Kid's School:

Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Dorela is the recipient of a slew of awards, including the $1,000 General Federated Woman's Club of Newtown Square Past President's Award; the David Michael Reid Foundation Scholarship, which will pay all costs associated with tuition, room and board, and books for Dorela in her college career; the Excellence in Science Award presented by all the Marple Newtown High School science teachers; and certificates of achievements for the Hi-Q Club, Interact Club and World Wide Newspaper (a student-run foreign language newspaper; Dorela was the editor of the Spanish section), just to name a few.

Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: Dorela's consistent hard work and dedication to strive for the best that she can be stems from her early childhood.

"From the beginning, I had that structure built in me where I couldn't change," explains Dorela. "I came from Albania when I was just 6, and my mom and my sisters didn't know any English and I had to do ESL. I remember working hard to try to get up to par with the students who did speak English, and ever since then I think I had that way of learning and studying built into me."

From that point on, Dorela has kept up with that mentality which brings her to where she is today as a successful student: "I think that really prepared me for what gets me going–getting stuff done and not skipping things."

Upon receiving the David Michael Reid scholarship, Dorela says that could be one of her biggest achievements.

"Just being down to the top five for the chance to get an interview out of 210 schools and not knowing what someone else has done... sometimes I feel like, 'do I deserve to get all this?' I feel really blessed that someone is able to recognize all the hard work I've done," shares Dorela. "It's a huge moment. Probably one of the biggest moments of my life right now."

Dorela will be attending the University of Sciences for her doctorate in pharmacy. Although she admits she had frequently changed her mind on what she wanted to major in, she always stuck to her favorite subject to study: the sciences. And then there's her dream job of becoming a news anchor someday. But in the meantime, the David Michael Reid scholarship and majoring in pharmacy will allow her to study a variety of science subjects this fall and believes it will be the best way for her to "give back."

"To have this scholarship will allow me to work hard but now worry about money so much. I feel really blessed to have a starting point with money and have higher dreams," she says. "I wanted to give back in some way and I felt like I could do that with pharmacy."

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.