On March 13, senior Reem Kirja was surprised with a mountain stack of Coca-Cola, balloons and a big check for $20,000. Kirja will be joining the 37th class of Coca-Cola scholars who have demonstrated their capacity for leadership and commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities. The prestigious Coca-Cola scholarship is awarded to only 150 students selected from a pool of over 105,000 applicants nationwide.

For Kirja, the scholarships consisted of three, hard application rounds: the first round asked for only basic information, while the semi-finalist round required supplemental essays. Then, Coca-Cola conducted interviews for regional finalists before Kirja won the grand prize as a finalist.

“When I [became] a Coke Scholar, I was like, ‘This must be a fluke!’ I was so surprised because, at West High, there are so many qualified people,” Kirja said. “In the beginning, I was questioning ‘why was it me?’ But then I realized there was something that they saw in me, and I’m glad that they saw it; I’m so grateful for this opportunity.”

The Coca-Cola Foundation seeks strong, community-oriented leaders, and Kirja believes her fiery, passionate leadership comes from her mother. As the daughter of two Sudanese immigrants, Kirja was taught to break barriers and bring disparate communities together.

“From the second that [my family immigrated] to America, my mom told me, ‘You’re the representation of Sudanese people here, so you have to showcase the good in us because there are so many stereotypes about us,’ Kirja said. “A quote that I grew up with ever since I was young, [which] both my parents emphasized, was ‘instead of me think we.’ They wanted to ensure that not only am I growing myself, but I’m also growing the community with [me].”

Because of this mindset, Kirja has devoted her high school career to activism and social justice for the Sudanese and Muslim communities. From advocating for no school on Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha for ICCSD to raising awareness about the Sudan War through Voices of the Nile and being a spokesperson for Zhive Media, an online network for emerging leaders,  this is just the beginning of what Kirja hopes to accomplish.

“Simply existing in spaces where we aren’t accepted is such a huge statement to the change that we can create,” Kirja said. “[In my application], I talked about my passion for representation as well as ensuring that each individual has the empowerment within their community to create not only lasting impact but change.”

Kirja will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia for the Coca-Cola scholarship banquet on April 13, and she hopes to gain inspiration from different regional scholars.

“[I want to] understand the different issues that each region of America has, because the Midwest is not like the South, and the South is not like the West. Expanding my viewpoint on the issues that the everyday Americans face from each region [is really important],” Kirja said. “I don’t want to meet people with the same mindset as me. I want to grow from people who are different than me.”