Aroosh Kaleem, a graduating Utah Connections Academy senior from West Valley City, has already gone above and beyond. Recently, she qualified as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist for her high test scores and incredible extracurricular achievements.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a highly prestigious academic competition that aims to recognize and honor academically talented American students. Students who enroll are selected based on their PSAT/NMSQT testing scores. Only students in the top 1% of scores qualify as semifinalists. Those students then move on to become finalists by submitting detailed applications demonstrating their academic achievements. Aroosh was one of roughly 15,000 students to qualify as a 2026 National Merit Scholarship finalist.

Aroosh initially took the PSAT in her sophomore year before taking the qualifying test in her junior year. “That experience allowed me to understand what to expect on the exam,” she said. “I studied with a lot of practice tests, so being familiar with the format took away feelings of testing anxiety.”

While studying for the test over her summer break, Aroosh gained a deep appreciation for math. This helped her get a perfect score of 760 on the math section of the exam.

“I love math because of its intersectionality with creativity,” she said, citing her hobby of calligraphy as an example. “While most wouldn’t find these two things related, math played a big role in my calligraphy designs. The spacing between letters, thickness, height and other factors had me whipping out my calculator and ruler a lot more than I expected.”

In addition to being a math wizard, Aroosh is also a leader. Throughout all four years of high school, she has been a State Student Board member for SheTech, a Utah-based program that is currently the largest industry-led program created to inspire and support high school girls pursuing STEM careers. She is also currently the president of the SheTech chapter at Utah Connections Academy. Her school’s SheTech club has been a great way for her to connect to her online school community.

“It required a lot of creative thinking to adapt the club to our online format,” she said, “but it became more than I could imagine. Through school outreach efforts, we’ve created the most amazing community that is enthusiastic about STEM.”

This year, Aroosh’s SheTech club is participating in the Conrad Challenge, a national STEM competition that challenges students to become entrepreneurs and create innovations to solve important problems. She and four of her peers are tackling the problem of food waste and its impact on the environment. Their Conrad Challenge project is “Spoiler Alert,” an app that tracks food inventory and sends timely notifications when expiring food needs attention based on fridge scans. The team’s goal is to help young adults and families reduce their waste and build sustainable habits. 

Through SheTech, Aroosh and her peers have also participated in the High School Utah Entrepreneurship Challenge at the University of Utah, where they advanced to the final stage of the competition in 2025.

According to the National Science Foundation, only about 28% of jobs in STEM fields are held by women. Despite women making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they remain underrepresented in STEM. Aroosh hopes to see this change.

“This form of community, education and information is the best way to reduce the gender gap in STEM,” she said. “I’ve noticed that when high schoolers understand the world of options that STEM presents, they are more receptive to pursuing STEM careers. There truly is something for everyone in STEM.”

She also added that representation and encouragement are just as important for bringing more women into STEM careers, something that SheTech promotes by collaborating with industry mentors and providing role models for aspiring girls.

When asked what advice she would give to young women who are interested in STEM, she said, “Take the opportunities that come your way. There are so many resources out there, and by actively engaging with your communities, you would be surprised to learn how many cool experiences you can gain. So step out of your comfort zone and do things that are new or unfamiliar.”

Aroosh’s other achievements include placing first in the University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair for her research on Alzheimer’s disease in 2025, placing among nine winners of an art and essay contest hosted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission, being a member of the National Honors Society, and representing Utah in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Aroosh plans to attend the University of Utah this fall as a biology major on the premed track. Her goal is to become a pediatrician. If she wins one of the 6,930 National Merit Scholarships that she has qualified for, she will earn a $2,500 scholarship and the title of Merit Scholar.