1st Place
2015-2016 High School Winners
Public Health
Laura Paglicawan
Stephen F. Austin High School, Sugar Land, TX
A senior at Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land, TX, Laura Paglicawan came across the contest while looking for scholarship opportunities online. She has entered other contests but mostly by writing essays, and was drawn to the challenge of creating a video. She decided on the Public Health category after considering the subtopics, and specifically wanted to focus on maternal health. She explained “it has the most tactical solution I see to the issue of having 7 billion people on the Earth.”
Laura credits her AP Environmental Science teacher Mr. Aguayo with always stressing prevention as the best solution to many of Earth’s problems. And when researching maternal health, the fact that many of the health issues women face during pregnancy are preventable, really struck a chord. Laura choose to structure her video as a journal so it would stay on a personal level, a characteristic she thought important given the topic matter. This was Laura’s first time creating a video and mastering the stop-motion animation was time consuming. But she said the most challenging part of the process was condensing everything she wanted to say into just one minute.
This fall Laura will attend the University of Houston and is planning to save her prize money to help cover those costs. She might study psychology but isn’t sure, though she knows she eventually wants a job where she’s able to help others. Laura is a member of the Art and English Honor Societies, likes cooking, and often spends her weekends helping out at the local animal shelter.