In its 10th year, the Legacy Scholarship instituted by the Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) selected 18-year-olds Rayhan Nariman and Freya Daroga as the winners for 2016. "We believe these students deserve to be recognized as innovators and leaders for tomorrow’s global community… We at ZAH…honor our young going off to college in order to recognize excellence in the academic arena and their contribution to the ZAH center through community service, both within the ZAH community and mainstream America. This year, again, the applicants were just spectacular, and it took careful deliberation for the selection committee to come up with our winners,” noted a communique from Homi Davier, chair since inception of the three-member Legacy Committee that includes Dr Farrokh Mistree and Vispi Sagar.
Rayhan Nariman (left) and Freya Daroga: innovators and leaders
Homi Davier: supporting the next generation
Both the winners have graduated from Clements High School in Sugar Land where they were inducted into the National Honor Society, and while Nariman’s passion for science has led him to pursue electrical engineering at Penn State University, Daroga is now an undergraduate student at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at The University of Houston.
Nariman who was conferred The Congress 2000 Legacy Award has been described as "an enterprising young man with a passion for life and a thirst for knowledge. At Clements he… was selected to be the co-chair for Ranger Camp, an annual event for incoming freshmen. He was also an active member of the Theater Society, and was selected for the Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL) program where he mentored kids with special needs… At a moment’s notice (he) can be counted on to step up and volunteer his time for his fellow Zarathushtis.”
Recipient of the Cyrus Rohinton Desai Award, Daroga won several academic excellence awards while at Clements and as a member of PAL she had the opportunity to mentor and work with elementary and middle school children. At the community level, she has had the privilege of serving as secretary and president of the ZAH Youth Group. "Her leadership skills were evident when she organized the blood drive, International Night (fund-raiser), and Car Washes and other social events at ZAH which were aimed to foster and promote community involvement… (Additionally) she organized and participated in volunteer activities in the community at large, notably the Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels, the Houston Food Bank, Senior Homes and the Second Mile Mission.” An accomplished dancer who excels at Bollywood and drill team forms, she has participated in several contests at the national level.
All applicants went through the full award selection process set by an executive judgment of the Legacy Planning Committee and acknowledged by the ZAH executive committee. Judges from North America selected by Mistree were Dr Beheruz Sethna, Dr Poras Balsara, Dr Tinaz Pavri, Dr Farah Shroff and the ZAH youth representative on the committee, Pearline Collector.
The Cyrus Rohinton Desai Award was instituted by the family in memory of their courageous young Houstonian who succumbed to cancer before he could fulfill his wish to go to college. The Legacy Scholarship was established following the success of the World Zoroastrian Congress in Houston in 2000 and the additional grants received thereafter. The committee is now keen to "seriously identify and locate new funds” requesting families and corporations to bequeath funds to support "the next generation of great minds.”