Thursday, March 20, 2025
Famously known for their soda, Coca-Cola offers a scholarship program funded by the company through their Scholars Foundation and Hewlett senior, Benjamin Halimi is a finalist.
This scholarship recognizes high school seniors who demonstrate exceptional leadership and commitment to community service.
Halimi was originally one of more than 105,000 applicants nationwide, then moved on to the semi-finals with 1,050 other students and was one of 250 to make it this far.
He had a final virtual interview on Jan. 31, and will soon find out if he is part of the 150 students that will be receiving $20,000.
“I definitely think something they push for the scholarship is community service and looking at how you’ve impacted your local community,” Halimi said. “I definitely talked a lot in my essays and the descriptions of my activities the things I’ve done in my local community.”
In order to qualify, applicants must be graduating from high school this year, obtain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and plan on earning a college degree.
Applications must include — awards or honors earned, extracurricular activities, high school class grades and community service hours during high school.
He co-founded Youth Outreach, a group that connects nonprofit organizations through podcast interviews and awareness campaigns. They work closely with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Emblem Health Neighborhood Care to donate 550 school supplies bags to local children.
“I volunteer at the Chabad of Hewlett every week as a head counselor, I’m the president of DECA and I did a couple of service projects teaching local students introductory business, law and economics,” he added. “I definitely wanted to show that I was passionate about my community and I’ve done a lot to help it grow and help educate others that are younger than me.”
Every Saturday at the Chabad, he leads a group of 30 children and teaches them the meaning behind— culture, religious practices and implements engaging activities.
“Last week we had something where we built a cultural site out of marshmallows, they enjoyed that,” Halimi said.
In order to become a finalist, Halimi had to submit additional documentation about his activities, a teacher’s recommendation letter, his transcript and several essays. He also had an interview with the selection committee.
“I had found out I was a semi-finalist at my varsity soccer game so it didn’t feel real at first, it was a big cut off from 100,000 applicants to only 1,050 at first it felt surreal,” he explained. “The finalist was very surprising in my opinion because that’s the hardest jump because the 1,050 selected have done amazing things. Jumping from that to 250 had me really surprised when I found out. Only 150 out of 250 become a winner and I’m not sure when I’ll find out.”
He has not heard back from any colleges yet but plans on studying political science and has aspirations of becoming a lawyer.
“We at Hewlett High School couldn’t be prouder of Benjamin Halimi for being named the 2025 Regional Coca-Cola Finalist,” Alexandra Greenberg, principal at Hewlett High School wrote in a statement. “Benjamin symbolizes the character traits and values that Hewlett High School students are known for. We are excited to celebrate with him and wish him the best of luck in the next round.”
For more information about the Coca-Cola Scholars Program and its recognition of student leaders nationwide, visit Coca-ColaScholarsFoundation.org.
