2018 High School Winners

Arjun Agarwal, a ninth grader at Lawrence High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, found out about the contest through involvement in his school’s STEM club. He felt inspired to tackle the challenge of Feeding 10 Billion with his film because he saw hunger firsthand while traveling in India with his parents. Arjun’s father teaches about nutrition, so he has some prior knowledge on the topic, but shared that with this project his “eyes were opened to population’s impacts” and how population growth connects to other global issues.

Arjun loves movies and is an experienced filmmaker himself. After learning all about movie production at a summer camp in California, he’s entered multiple student video contests, winning awards for his films about George Washington and the Hubble Telescope among others. He’s even created promotional videos for his father’s business. The World of 7 Billion contest was Arjun’s first chance to combine his love of science with his love of filmmaking, though he says it was very challenging to fit everything he wanted to include into a one-minute video. His advice for future participants? “Don’t push it off. Start early even if it’s just the background research because refining takes so long and you need to give yourself time to do that.”

Arjun is a big fan of photography, in addition to his love of movies and film. His favorite documentary series is Planet Earth II, and a recent Hollywood favorite is Black Panther. Arjun likes to be active in his free time as well, and enjoys hiking, camping, competing in all kinds of sports and training in mixed martial arts.