Amira Chowdhury of Glendale, Herbert Hoover High School, and Claire Muscat, who attended Village Christian School, were among 15 Milken Scholars for 2018 from Los Angeles County schools. Each will be receiving a $10,000 college scholarship.

Beyond the financial aspect of receiving a Milken Scholarship, the recipients 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 any post-undergraduate career goals.

Chowdhury will be attending the University of Pennsylvania. As president of the Distinguished Scholars Academy, she promoted college and career opportunities and raised funds to allow students to visit colleges and shadow local professionals. She served as a founding member of the nonprofit Peerlift, promoting educational equity by connecting students around the country with college resources and higher learning opportunities. Chowdhury was the elected student board member of the board of education for Glendale Unified School District and serves more than 26,000 students across its 31 schools, collaborating on educational policy and enrichment programs.

Chowdhury will study philosophy, politics and international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania and plans a career in public service.

Claire Muscat will be attending Stanford University. She was the salutatorian at Village Christian Schools in Sun Valley. As an intern in the Bioengineering Bootcamp at the Stanford Institutes of Medical Research, Muscat prototyped a device designed to prevent nerve damage during orthopedic surgery. She was the student ambassador for Village Christian’s STEM Concentration, serving as a liaison for guest speakers. With the Engineering Club, Muscat and her team won several awards at the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Invention Challenge, an engineering competition. She led a team of peers to develop an app to alleviate long cafeteria lines; though she had no formal coding training, Muscat set up videoconferences with experts to help the group troubleshoot and meet its deadline.

Muscat will study bioengineering at Stanford and is considering a career in engineering, pharmacology, chemistry or criminology.

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.

The Los Angeles County scholars will attend a four-day summit from July 26-29 in Los Angeles with over 100 scholars including new recipients, undergraduates and alumni facilitators.