HOUSTON – KPRC 2 and American Furniture Warehouse are surprising 20 deserving high school seniors with $2,500 scholarships in 2024. All students selected for scholarships have been nominated by their high schools.
DeBakey High School for Health Professions senior Athitiya Singhapan is the thirteenth Senior Scholarship recipient from the Class of 2024. DeBakey High School for Health Professions is part of the Houston Independent School District.
Singhapan is a self-published author. Her children’s book, “Rocks and Stinky Socks,” has been distributed at children’s hospitals and is available through Amazon and Target, among other retailers. The book was inspired by Singhapan’s journey with a chronic autoimmune illness called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Singhapan says, “I have distributed copies of my book to 50 children’s hospitals nationwide, one in each state, and I find deep purpose in knowing that my battles can help other children fight theirs, too!”
She also created an Instagram community for adolescents facing chronic and autoimmune illnesses. In her nomination essay, Singhapan said, “In search of community support groups for teens with autoimmune/chronic illnesses, I found nothing. So, I created one.”
Teaching comes naturally to Singhapan, who volunteers her time teaching science to nursing home residents. She also makes learning about science fun with videos she creates and shares on her YouTube channel, which currently has more than 1,500 subscribers. Singhapan also won first place nationwide in a video competition for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Singhapan says she wants to give back to the medical field that helped her navigate her chronic illness. She plans to study Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas.
You can see the scholarship surprise for Athitiya Singhapan in the video player at the top of this article.