ORLANDO, Fla. — Spectrum News has awarded four scholarships to exemplary students across Central Florida.

Students were nominated by faculty after demonstrating excellence in academics, sports, or volunteer work.

The Spectrum News 13 team is excited to announce Lake Nona High School senior Michael Okonkwo as the Orange County recipient, naming him a Spectrum News High School Scholar.

As a high school senior, it’s not always easy to find time to do things you enjoy.

But Okonkwo seems to have found a good balance.

And after a long day of classes at Lake Nona High School, he found himself right back in a classroom after school hours to work on a presentation with the NASA Project.

The NASA Project is a program that gives high school students in OCPS a chance to work with NASA’s 45th Weather Squadron.

It is an opportunity Okonkwo says he couldn’t pass up on.

 “I thought it was a great way to apply a lot of the mathematical concepts that I’ve learned in high school to a real-world setting,” explained Okonkwo. “And also, I’ve always just been interested by weather and the factors surrounding it.”

Okonkwo has been a part of the program since his sophomore year and as a senior he serves as a team lead.

The project gives him a chance to work with his team to prepare and share their research with some of NASA’s finest and using the skills he’s learned from his favorite subject, math.

“I just like math because I feel like it’s one of those subjects where if you put in the effort then it will show patterns that will develop over time,” Okonkwo said.

Although he’s a part of the NASA project to work with the Severe Weather Meteorological Sounding Team, Okonkwo says he has no interest in being a meteorologist but instead wants to become a biomedical engineer.

“I’ve also always been interested in the medical field and I want to see if I can help advance it with equipment and see if I can help progress the field,” shared Okonkwo.

But the Lake Nona valedictorian’s involvement doesn’t stop there.

Okonkwo is also a member of the National Beta Club, he did varsity track and field for two years and volunteered more than 100 hours at his local library.

It’s a hectic schedule he says he purposely put together for his growth.

“I like to lay down like a strict schedule for me that helps me stay organized and productive and I also make sure to take breaks and relax because it’s easy to get burned out,” Okonkwo said.

And to ensure burn out doesn’t happen, Okonkwo says he always finds time to take a break.

And one of his favorite ways to do so is by playing basketball with his friends.

“It allows me to like relax and cool down from all of the busy things that I do throughout my day and it kind of like energizes me and gives me a boost so I can go back to doing like other activities like my schoolwork or extracurricular activities,” Okonkwo shared.

Winding down and spending quality time with the people that have helped shaped him are extremely important to Okonkwo.

And while he only plays basketball for fun, he plays with the same intensity that has given him a 5.53 weighted GPA and set to attend UCF to major in mechanical engineering.

It helps him keep in mind the lessons his loved ones have instilled in him.

“And as my mom says, anything worth doing is worth doing well, so, just try to maximize everything that you do in your every day and always remember to relax too because it’s important to take breaks,” explained Okonkwo.

Michael’s versatility and ambition to soar to new heights in everything he does is why he is a Spectrum News High School Scholar.

He has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship, which will go towards his mechanical engineering degree at the University Central Florida.