EAST BRUNSWICK — Shravan Balaji’s love of politics and international studies began at an early age.
As a child, his father gave him trading cards of all the U.S presidents.
“Ever since I was a little kid, he taught me about history and politics,” he said.
Balaji, a senior at East Brunswick High School who graduates this week, will be honored at a special event in Washington, D.C., for being admitted into the Presidential Scholar Program.
Balaji was admitted into the prestigious program in April and will be joined by 141 other top high school seniors from across the country.
For Balaji, this is an opportunity to meet some of the brightest students in the nation.
“It’s very exciting as well as very humbling,” he said.
Those who are admitted into the program are awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital, where they receive the Presidential Medallion in an event sponsored by the White House.
The event will take place on the weekend of June 23, when Balaji will have the opportunity to meet with top government officials as well as alumni of the program.
To his teachers, it is no surprise that Balaji has achieved such a distinction.
“Right away, it was clear this was a kid that was going to do great things,” said Alan Brodman, Balaji’s teacher, who has known him since he was a freshman at Churchill Junior High School.
Balaji was also the secretary general of the Model United Nations at East Brunswick High School.
“Shravan doesn’t have to work hard, but he does,” said Brodman, adding that Balaji is the kind of student who has a rare combination of intelligence as well as responsibility.
“He’s one of those students that comes around once a decade.”
Balaji will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, where he will be combining his two passions: business and politics. He was accepted into the Huntsman Program within the Wharton School. The program admits only 45 students a year.
After college, Balaji envisions entering politics at either an NGO or a nonprofit, or a career on Wall Street.
The Presidential Scholarship was created in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson to celebrate the most distinguished graduating seniors in the nation. Currently, only one in over 20,000 graduating seniors will achieve this award.
Students are selected based on academics, artistic ability and volunteer work.
Currently, 121 students are chosen for their academic achievements, while 20 are chosen in the arts.
Of the 141 high school students who have been selected for the scholarship, nine are from New Jersey — the second highest number of presidential scholars after California, which has 10.