Elmont High School valedictorian visits the White House

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna invited to science fair

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Elmont Memorial High School valedictorian and Intel Science Talent Search finalist Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna was invited to the White House Science Fair on April 13, along with other science whizzes from across the country.

Meeting President Obama was one of Augusta’s hopes throughout the process of presenting her Intel project in March in Washington. Though she wasn’t able to meet the president then, a few weeks later, she got a call from Caitlin Sullivan, the coordinator of the Intel contest, who invited her to return to Washington and present her research, on a new cement mix that would better prevent offshore oil leaks, to a group of dignitaries. The invitation had to remain secret, however, per Sullivan’s orders. Augusta could only tell her parents.

“It was so surprising because it wasn’t something that I really thought about or expected,” said Augusta, who was recently accepted by all eight Ivy League schools. “It was hard to bottle up all that excitement.”

On her return visit, she presented her project to Bill Nye, a scientist and the star of the children’s program “Bill Nye the Science Guy”; Adam Savage, a co-host of “Mythbusters”; and supermodel Carly Krause. Nye is a personal favorite of Augusta’s, so presenting her project to him was an honor, she said. “It was so great to find someone that really understood it,” she said.

Savage, she said, was very interested in the technical elements of her project, which thrilled her. “People don’t really ask me about [the technical parts],” she said, “so it was great talking to them and actually being able to see them become fascinated by our projects because they truly understood it.”

While she did not get to present her project to the president, which was disappointing, Augusta said she was thrilled to shake his hand and listen to him speak at a press conference with all the other attendees.

“When I saw President Obama come and join our picture, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m really at the White House. I really got to meet the president of the United States,’” Augusta recalled. “If you were in a bad mood, his presence brightened your day immediately. It was just this surge of excitement that comes over you.”

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