Scholarship allows student to follow his dreams and make a difference

How is it possible to achieve the perfect balance of work, homework, and extracurricular involvement? It’s not simple or easy, but Anant Naik does it all. Aside from being President of the Engineers Without Borders club on campus and helming projects for the Engineering World Health student group, Naik works diligently as a senior editor for the Minnesota Daily and as a research assistant in Dr. Timothy Ebner’s Neuroscience lab.

A recipient of the E. Reuben and Gladys Flora Grant Scholarship, Naik’s involvement in these various student groups and organizations on campus adequately highlight his future goals along with his determination to make an impact on his community and beyond.

“I like to ask myself – if I want to achieve my mission in the future, why can’t I start now?” Naik explained. “Usually the answer is simple: I can, and I should…I’m involved because I aim to make a difference in my community.”

Along with these commitments, the junior from Eagan, Minn. also juggles the taxing workload of a biomedical engineering student in CSE.

“I love math, physics, and biology,” Naik said. “I wasn’t particularly good at it initially, but my fascination for these subjects drove to a major where I could do all three, nearly at the same time.”

Naik plans eventually to enroll in an MD/Ph.D. program to intersect his biomedical engineering major with his neuroscience minor. His passion centers around biomedical technology, and he aspires to use his biomedical engineering background to discover new and affordable ways to address neurodegenerative diseases.

Despite being awarded the E. Reuben and Gladys Flora Grant Scholarship for his many efforts to make change throughout the U of M campus and his community, Naik stands by the statement that “we should not do what we do for an award.” That being said, he is still humbled and honored to receive financial assistance in his collegiate journey.

“Isaac Newton was quoted saying that he accomplished what he did on the shoulders of giants, meaning he could have only accomplished what he did by the help and solidarity of the community around him. This scholarship is definitely a giant on whose shoulders I now stand—all in hopes to make a profound and positive impact on the world,” Naik said.

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