Mariko Rooks honored by Milken Foundation
Mariko Rooks, recently of Culver City High School, was one of 13 students from Los Angeles-area schools selected to receive a $10,000 college scholarship as a 2017 Milken Scholars program recipient. She will study public health policy at Yale.
CC High School graduate Rooks has found multiple opportunities to fuel her interest in health care and public health policy. She was a medical scholar at the Osborne Head & Neck Institute (OHNI) in Los Angeles, observing surgeries, helping with labs and patient exams, and compiling case studies. Working with an OHNI physician, Mariko published “Surgery and Your Voice,” an article for OHNI’s medical journal about how medical procedures and conditions affect the vocal cords.
She also worked as a dental assistant, supervising x-rays, scheduling procedures, and providing chair-side assistance for dental exams and minor oral surgeries.
Rooks, an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the California Scholarship Federation, earned a National Merit Scholarship Commendation and ACT Perfect Score Recognition.
She was nominated for the California Interscholastic Federation’s Student-Athlete of the Year Scholarship, captained her school’s varsity water polo team, played varsity softball, and successfully convinced the administration to build a new softball field and swimming pool.
Through the Youth CAN Japanese American Leadership Program, Mariko was a panelist for the Smithsonian’s National Youth Summit on Japanese-American incarceration and spoke at the Day of Remembrance with then-U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra (now California’s attorney general).
She created interactive education materials for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches to encourage bone marrow registry, reviewed young adult books as part of the Children’s Book World Teen Readers’ Council, and discussed the bestselling young adult novel The Fault in Our Stars on National Public Radio.
The Milken Scholars program provides the scholarship but more importantly, they receive a lifelong mentor/support system that includes ongoing career-related counseling, assistance in securing internships, opportunities for community service and a fund to assist their pursuit of post-undergraduate career goals.
Many thanks for your consideration of including her accomplishments in your paper. If you need more info or would like to interview Miss Rooks, please contact Andressa Rogers at 310-570-4777.
The Milken Scholars, a joint initiative of the Milken Institute and the Milken Family Foundation, has selected 13 talented students from the Los Angeles area for its 2017 scholarship program after a rigorous nomination, application and interview process. Open to college-bound high school seniors in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., Milken Scholars are selected based on academic performance, community service, leadership and their ability to persevere in the face of personal challenges.
“In the nearly three decades since Lori and I cofounded the Milken Scholars program, these leaders of tomorrow have consistently inspired us by their achievements, leadership and dedication to service,” said Milken Institute Chairman Mike Milken. “This year’s class of outstanding Los Angeles Scholars is no exception. In welcoming them to the Milken Scholars family, we are confident they can change the world.”
Mike and Lori Milken founded the Milken Scholars program to promote and assist young people as they navigate the transitions from high school to college and from college to graduate school or the world of work. Recipients receive a $10,000 scholarship, but more importantly they gain a lifelong support system that includes ongoing career-related counseling, assistance in securing internships, opportunities for community service and a fund to assist their pursuit of post-undergraduate career goals.