Kodzai is Park Scholar

The prestigious Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has named O’Neal Senior Niasha Kodzai to its Class of 2024.
 
Forty scholars were selected among 2,136 candidates not only from North Carolina, but across the nation and abroad. These exceptional students were selected based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service and character presented in interviews and assessments before a selection committee made up of NCSU faculty members and alumni. The Park Scholarship is a four-year scholarship currently valued at approximately $111,000 for in-state students and $205,000 for out-of-state students. The award covers tuition, fees and room and board at NCSU. In addition, Park Scholars also receive a stipend toward personal expenses and the purchase of a new computer. Access to enrichment grants to pursue research, service or creative projects, as well as alumni-funded travel grants for study abroad are perks to the program.  In addition to these benefits, Park Scholars participate in retreats, field learning experiences and civic engagement initiatives as well as mentorships with some of NCSU’s top faculty members.
 
Niasha Elise Kodzai is the only candidate from Moore County selected as a finalist. She is the daughter of Drs. William and Za'Vette Kodzai of Southern Pines. A part of the O’Neal School Class of 2020, Niasha is a founding member and current president of the Women's Empowerment Club and president of the Diversity Club. She is in her fourteenth year of ballet and is currently a senior member of the Carolina Performing Arts Center's Youth Ballet Senior Company. Niasha has also volunteered as a music camp counselor for the past six years, is a member of O'Neal's Cum Laude Society, and was awarded the Central Carolinas Phi Beta Kappa Associations' Voit Gilmore Outstanding Senior Student Book Award. Niasha plans to double major in industrial design and psychology.
 
“Niasha is so much more than a list of accomplishments,” says Upper School Head Matt Jacobs. “It is hard to describe in words all she does and all she means to the Upper School. The power of positivity, selflessness, and true kindness flow from Niasha. She is a shining example of what we hope all O’Neal students to be.”
 
The Park Scholarships program seeks to develop and support Park Scholars in the areas for scholarship, leadership, service and character preparing them for lifelong contributions to the campus, state, nation and world.
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The O'Neal School admits students of any race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by law to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.