An expressive musician, passionate Indian classical dancer, and loving dog mom discovered enough time in her day to accumulate a high school diploma two years early. At only 16 years old, Nikita Patel will walk the Wilson High School graduation stage this June.
Since sixth grade, Patel has taken interest in creating and inventing. She began taking accelerated courses and utilizing her real-world application skills to turn inventions into a reality. By taking summer courses and studying independently, Patel was able to skip three years of mathematics curriculum by seventh grade. She received a perfect score on the SAT Math Subject Test by eighth grade.
With a passion for environmental sustainability and health science research, Patel has since obtained three patents: an aquaponics system that grows plants while filtering drinking water, an aquaponic system that filters water while also producing energy, and a drug delivery system. Additionally, she has been working with a pharmaceutical company on further developing her drug delivery system. Patel attends professional conferences to promote her organization and expand her influence.
In addition to her high school courses, Patel has also attended classes at the local Albright College and Reading Area Community College. Patel completed accelerated courses such as Advanced Placement Calculus A/B in eighth grade and finished the highest level of mathematics curriculum by the end of ninth grade. This year, Patel had the opportunity of revisiting AP Calculus as a teacher’s assistant, where she, “knew it felt different being on the other side and teaching students two years older, but learned every angle and aspect of Calculus to teach it.” Although she has experienced setbacks from “looking very young and not being taken seriously,” she has proven herself amongst staff and students alike.
With a current schedule of seven high school classes, three college courses, and an Honors Internship, Patel also had to navigate the college decision process. She received acceptance letters from eight colleges with merit scholarships. She is now an incoming freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she will major in Biomedical Engineering on a Pre-Med track. Patel hopes to inspire others to pursue their goals and dreams as well and states that, “there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Keep working hard.” For now, she will count down the days to graduation and spend as much time with Roy, her mini-Goldendoodle, as possible.
- Written by Kymari Clarke, Wilson Senior Honors Intern
