Vazquez receives top award in 2026 ScienceSaves Video Scholarship Contest
Mariner High School graduate Elyssa Vazquez recently received a $10,000 scholarship from the 2026 ScienceSaves Video Scholarship Contest.
The contest received hundreds of submissions from college-bound high school seniors across the country. Their videos detailed the impact science had on their lives, or the life of someone they knew personally.
“Receiving this $10,000 scholarship is an incredible honor and an immense financial relief. It validates the hard work I put into this project, but more importantly, it represents a massive investment in my future education and career aspirations,” Vasquez said.
Vazquez stumbled across the contest on social media. She said she was looking through student opportunities and scholarship pages when the #ScienceSaves campaign popped up on her feed.
“It immediately caught my eye because it wasn’t just a typical scholarship essay prompt, but a video prompt that asked for creativity,” she said.
Her submission was a 30-second video that blended a personal family story with medical science.
“Specifically, I explained how sodium channel blockers work to regulate electrical surges in the brain to control her epileptic seizures. I made it scrapbook style to make it seem like the video was going through memories,” Vazquez said.
Her cousin Aiva was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was very young.
“Growing up, her family fought the unpredictability of her condition, but we also saw firsthand how life changing medical research can be. I wanted to highlight her resilience and show that scientific advancements aren’t just creations in a lab but inventions that can change a family,” Vazquez said.
She will be attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the fall to pursue a degree in aeronautical science.
“I just want to express my gratitude to the creators of the #ScienceSaves program for providing this platform to highlight how scientific innovation changes lives,” she said.
The submissions were judged on the student’s ability to tell a brief, compelling personal story using original photos, video clips and texts. The top three were chosen, as well as a People’s Choice through voting on the ScienceSaves website.
The second-place winner was Jade McMillan of Atlanta Georgia, who received a $2,000 scholarship, third place was given to Andrianna Harstad from Jupiter, Florida, who received $1,000 and the People’s Choice Award went to Darasimi Omoloye from Plumas Lake, California, who also received $1,000.
“ScienceSaves was created to promote science appreciation,” said philanthropist Todd Stiefel, the founder of ScienceSaves, in a prepared statement. “These videos are wonderful because they really illustrate the lifesaving power of science and how it touches everyone. There’s a real sense of hopefulness and gratitude that comes through in each of these videos. It’s a joy to see and a pleasure to be a part of.”
The Center for Inquiry Science-Saves is a nonpartisan, pro-science advocacy program.
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