Name: Briana Liu

Age: 17

School: Richard Montgomery High School, Class of 2011.

Accomplishment: Awarded a $1,500 college grant from the Rockville Scholarship Foundation, Inc. for her academic and environmental achievements, as well as other endeavors.

Key to success: “What motivates me is the feeling that I’m making a difference in the world and helping the people I care about and the community,” Liu said. “I care about making some kind of impact in the world around me so I’m helping and giving back to the people who gave me so much.”

Liu graduated this month from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and is both a Maryland Distinguished Scholar Finalist and a National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist. Several of her achievements are related to the environment: She served as president of Richard Montgomery High’s Environmental Club and documented the progress of a model green city in Xiangfan, China as a Green Cross Volunteer for the Aixin Foundation.  

Liu will attend Princeton University in the fall, where she intends to continue her environmental pursuits.

“It’s not exactly a glamorous job or a well-paying job, but what attracts me to this kind of career is the universality of it and how pressing and urgent it is,” she said. “I think the environment is the most pressing and most universal issue in the world today. When you think about it, it affects not just humans, but every single species on the planet.”

Advice to others seeking Rockville Scholarship Foundation Awards grants: “I would just say be genuine and just tell the committee what you truly believe in and what you want to do and pursue and really have a reason for picking a career you want to pursue—preferably something beyond personal satisfaction,” Liu said.

Click here to learn more about the Rockville Scholarship Foundation, Inc.