Class of 2027

Noor Ahmidouch | Greensboro, North Carolina

Noor Ahmidouch’s sense of thoughtfulness is shown through every aspect of her life. As a chairperson for Backpack Buddies, an organization that provides pre-packed nutritious meals to children experiencing food insecurity, she picked up food from local grocery stores weekly to pack and deliver to schools. Noor also tutored K-8 students in math and English and developed her own lesson plans to assist them. At her high school, she served as a student representative on the High School Improvement Team, where she acted as a liaison between students, staff and the school administration to advocate and bring awareness to factors such as diversity and school climate. In addition to serving her community, Noor is an advocate for the environment. She volunteered at the Greensboro Science Center as a Tier II Zoo Docent, where she educated guests on conservation issues and ways to help create a sustainable future. To continue to support this mission, she created her own non-profit, Magical Meerkat, where she creates animal art and donates all of the proceeds from the sales to the World Wildlife Fund. Noor hopes to continue her conservation efforts during her time at Wake Forest, where she plans to study Environmental Science.  

Zinn Amos | Frankfort, Illinois 

Zinn Amos is motivated by his intellectual curiosity. He has a love for biology and engineering, which have contributed to his interest in biomedical engineering. At his high school, he was the founder and president of the Providence Catholic Medical Club, where he created a collaborative learning environment for students to discuss career paths in the medical field. During his senior year, Zinn interned at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Vietnam, where he shadowed doctors as they completed various procedures. Throughout his four years of high school, he was a member of the Providence Catholic Math Team where they won the regional competition three years in a row. Zinn founded the Amos Teaching Service in his community, where he tutored students in math and science to help prepare them for SAT/ACT testing. Zinn is also an active member in his community. As President of the Jack and Jill Monarch Cities Chapter, he led meetings, organized fundraisers, and donated food and clothes to people in the community.  Zinn is passionate about helping people and improving their quality of life. A Stamps Scholar, he plans to study Biology and pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon. 

Batul El Barouki | Cherry Hill, New Jersey 

Batul El Barouki is always looking for opportunities to serve her community. Inspired by her Syrian background, she volunteered for the Lahan-Al Haya Orphanage of Damascus, where she helped supply clean clothes and over 300 books for young children. She also served as an ambassador for Peer Leaders, which is a group of positive role models that helps to create a safe and welcoming environment for students. In this role, she mentored 26 foreign students, helping them to get acclimated to the high school and involved in clubs and activities. As a service volunteer in the Interact Club, she provided aid to multiple areas in the community by leading food drives, sorting clothing donations, and organizing fundraising events. With her passion for science, she served as the Vice President of the Science National Honors at her high school, where she led outreach programs, tutored students, and oversaw meetings and activities. In addition to helping others through service, Batul has an interest in journalism. As the Global Commentary Editor for her high school’s newspaper, Eastside, she prepared story ideas, wrote about global awareness, led Adobe InDesign workshops, and mentored other aspiring editors. She is excited to come to Wake Forest to grow intellectually and find more opportunities to serve the community. With an intention to pursue a career in medicine, Batul plans to study Biophysics and minor in Journalism. 

Chasen Cage | Chicago, Illinois 

Chasen Cage is determined and always looking for opportunities to challenge himself. As a co-captain on the Whitney Young Swim Team, he swam competitively all four years of high school. He also was a member of the Whitney Young Water Polo Team where he learned the importance of discipline and having a support system. While he was a part of the team, they won two city championships, two sectional championships, and second place in the state. Aside from being a student athlete, Chasen is a charter member of the Jack and Jill of America-Magnificent Mile Chapter, where he was elected as President to help plan cultural and service events and activities for the chapter. Chasen also was a member of the National Honors Society, where he volunteered at food drives, soup kitchens, and tutored kids in his community. Chasen has an interest in economics and also enjoys history, politics, mathematics, and culture. During his junior year, Chasen became a member of the Business Professionals of America, where he competed in academic-decathlon-style business competitions and the 2021-2022 State Leadership Conference. A Joseph G. Gordon Scholar, Chasen looks forward to exploring new opportunities at Wake Forest, where he plans to study Economics.  

Jason Chen | Lexington, Kentucky

Jason Chen, a Guy T. Carswell Scholar, is ambitious and never stops looking for opportunities to lead and learn. As a Club President and Competitor of the Technology Student Association, he increased member count and helped members prepare for competitions. He competed in Biotechnology Design, where he won third place in the state competition three times. Jason also competed in the Future Problem Solving Program International, which is a nonprofit educational program that organizes academic competitions for students to apply critical thinking and problem solving skills. He placed eighth and tenth in Internationals and fourth at state in Global Issues Problem Solving and Individual Problem Solving. Jason also served as the Vice President and Public Relations Chair of the Dunbar Cultural Society. In this role, he led meetings that explored different cultures from around the world as well as revived the annual culture fair. Jason was also a part of the speech and debate team at his high school, where he served as a team mentor by coaching the underclassmen on the team. Throughout his four years on the debate team, he competed in events and won several awards, including national finalist, semi-finalist, and four-time state finalist. During his junior year, he founded the Mock Trial Team. As the founder and president of the Mock Trial Team, he led weekly meetings while helping the team learn about the U.S. legal system in order to prepare for competitions. A Guy T. Carswell Scholar, Jason plans to pursue a career as an attorney or judge. 

Virginia Crooks | Hickory, North Carolina

Virginia Crooks is passionate about justice and dedicated to advocating for others. As a member of the Youth Council of Catawba County, she has completed service projects and worked to challenge voter suppression. She also served as the Tutoring Task Force Committee Chair for the Hickory Branch NAACP, which seeks to improve educational equity and bridge achievement gaps in underserved communities by providing more access to tutors and tutoring programs. As an advocate for the initiative, she led meetings, recruited tutors, and developed new tutoring programs. She also served as a kindergarten tutor, directed literacy stations in classrooms, and assisted teachers with lessons. During her first year of high school, she wrote a powerful speech against racism that she delivered to her class and the president of the Hickory Branch NAACP, which led her to be selected as the keynote speaker for the MLK Day Celebration in Hickory that year and the following year. Virginia also founded the Compost and Recycling Initiative at St. Andrews Lutheran Church, where she led sessions to educate the community, created school compost bins, and recruited volunteers. She was also a member of the debate and tennis team at her high school. Virginia plans to study Economics with a minor in Spanish.

Destiny Hale | Jefferson, Georgia

Destiny Hale’s multifaceted experiences have made her the leader she is today. As captain of the Salem Academy Debate Team, she served as a coach and mentor to the debaters on her team by leading training sessions and providing moral support. She grew the team from five people to over 20, and she arranged a debate between the team and the Mayor of Winston-Salem, Allen Joines. Destiny won several competitions and awards in debate, including qualifying and competing in the Coolidge Cup competition twice. During her senior year, she was elected House Council President, where she was responsible for leading class meetings and working with the residential staff to make Salem Academy welcoming for boarding students. She also served as the Vice President of the National Honor Society, where she organized several group community service projects. As a member of the varsity Foil Fencing Team, Destiny led practices, recruited for the team and worked with new members to help them learn the basics of fencing. Destiny also has a passion for coding and was a part of the Salem Robotics Team for all four years of high school. During her junior and senior year, she served as the Lead Programmer and was responsible for programming, researching coding techniques, and developing a teaching plan to help improve readability for new coders. Destiny plans to study Computer Science and minor in Philosophy.  

Bennett Hara | Louisville, Kentucky

Bennett Haara is intentional about leaving places better than he found them. As a member of his high school’s Alliance for Humanity, he helped to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by raising awareness and organizing school diversity initiatives. As a part of Educational Justice, he volunteered as an activist to tutor and mentor underserved middle schoolers. He met with the students weekly and was responsible for training other tutors. Bennett also was a Troop Instructor for Boy Scouts of America where he led weekly skill instructions and participated in monthly activities and outings. He earned his Eagle Scout Rank by planning and executing a large service project to benefit Louisville Metro Animal Services. Bennett also served in several leadership roles in the Kentucky Youth Assembly and the Kentucky United Nations Assembly, which provide opportunities for students to learn about a variety of issues while developing critical thinking skills and articulating their own beliefs. As part of these organizations, he attended multi-school conferences, debated school bills for a mock Kentucky legislature or UN General Assembly, and won an Outstanding Speaker award. Because of Bennett’s interest in science, he helped found the Chemistry & Physics Club at his high school. He also volunteered in a chemistry lab and assisted in running experiments at the University of Louisville. A Stamps Scholar, Bennett plans to major in Biology or Anthropology and minor in Philosophy or Linguistics as he considers a potential career in scientific research. 

Kalina Namikas | Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Kalina Namikas is always striving to do her best. As one of the founding members of the Health Occupation Student Association, she represented her school in the International Leadership Conference. Her team placed first overall in the Anatomage Tournament and second in the State Convention in Biology and Biomedical Science events. She also served as co-captain of the varsity Policy Debate Team, where she competed in several tournaments each year and placed 16th in her second year at Nationals. Kalina has a love for biology, and she is very interested in research. During her sophomore year, she was a part of the High School Summer Research Program at Louisiana State University. In this program, students conducted research under the supervision of faculty and their graduate students and presented their findings with research posters at the end of the summer. Kalina presented her project titled, An Algorithmic Approach to Simulating HumanCortical Bone Microstructure and Remodeling, at the International Science and Engineering Fair and placed as a finalist.  During her junior and senior year she continued her research at Louisiana State University as an intern and submitted her work for publication.  A Stamps Scholar, Kalina is excited to explore all of the research opportunities at Wake Forest as she plans to major in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and minor Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Eva Kate Probus | Versailles, Kentucky

Eva Kate Probus uses her sense of empathy to understand and serve others around her. Throughout her four years of high school, she was a part of the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), which is a national career and technical student organization for students in family and consumer sciences education in public and private schools. As FCCLA State President, she was responsible for working with an executive council, training officers, and planning statewide events.. Through this position, she also earned a seat on the Kentucky Department of Education’s Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) Advisory Board, where she brought a student perspective on education policy. Eva Kate also served as a café volunteer at Spark Community Café, where she served meals to help diminish food insecurity in central Kentucky. As a part of the Homework Club at her high school, she served as a peer mentor for students, and she was also a peer tutor for students with disabilities. Eva Kate attended class with them and modified assignments while advocating for special education to ensure accessibility. In addition to serving her community, Eva Kate was a dedicated student athlete: a varsity member of the Woodford County High School Cross Country Team and Track and Field Team. The cross county team won the regional championship twice and qualified for the state competition four times. As a part of the track team, she competed in multiple events and won an MVP Award. Eva Kate plans to major in Political and International Affairs as well as History as she pursues a career in the public policy sector, where she hopes to assess and ensure positive change in social issues.