Four Bellevue graduating seniors received scholarships at the Bellevue Chamber business lunch, “Radar Vision for Autonomous Vehicles, Drones and Machines,” on July 20.

“The Bellevue business community understands that an excellent education supports our future workforce,” KeyBank’s business banking relationship manager, Jimmy Ng, said at the luncheon. “To help students with ongoing learning opportunities, the Bellevue Chamber has established the Bellevue Chamber Foundation to fund these programs. This year, we’re awarding a total of $7,500 to four deserving Bellevue graduating seniors.”

Bellevue Chamber President and CEO Betty Capestany said the Bellevue Chamber will award college scholarships to deserving students through the foundation, which furthers the chamber’s mission as it works to forge strategic alliances among the education and business communities.

“This year’s scholarship recipients are representative of how the Bellevue School District prepares our students for the jobs of the future,” Capestany said. “These students are pursuing their dreams, and we are pleased to reward their efforts on behalf our member businesses that support education.”

Cayla Lee of Interlake High School, received the Delta Air Lines Scholarship. She will be attending Harvard University and plans to study international relations and philosophy with the hope of becoming a diplomat. She was an active leader in her school by participating in the speech and debate team and Model United Nations for all four years. She’s played in her high school orchestra and for both the Seattle and Bellevue youth orchestras. Lee also dedicated her time to the community by interning at MultiCare Health System where she was involved in a project that focused on ensuring compliance with the availability of charity care information and signage about anti-discrimination policies.

Elizabeth Lin of Newport High School received the KeyBank Scholarship. Lin will be attending the University of Washington and plans to study bioengineering and business in order to create cost-effective medical technologies for developing countries. She is drawn to the University of Washington Institute for stem cell and regenerative medicine with the hope of finding a way for stem cells to be used to improve cancer therapy. Lin was the executive of her school’s UNICEF club where she taught her peers about global poverty and emergency relief.

Patrick Liu of Interlake High School is the first recipient of the M. Gail Ryder Scholarship. Liu will attend Duke University to pursue a degree in computer science or another engineering field. He also plans to enroll in business courses, become an active member in his community and continue to write short stories and music. He was a member of the Science Olympiad, Model United Nations and National Honor Society, and interned within the school’s physics department. Outside of school, he cofounded Spark Youth Camp, a student-run, nonprofit summer camp that aims to inspire kids to engage in STEM. Funds from the camp are donated to Interlake’s Science Olympiad’s team and used to fund further scholarships for low-income students.

Christina Li of Interlake High School received the Ralph James Family Memorial Scholarship. She will be attending Carnegie Mellon University and plans on majoring in finance and minoring in computer science.

The students felt honored to be recognized for their efforts.

“I feel pretty elated and very honored to receive this scholarship especially after meeting Mr. Ryder,” Liu said. “I feel honored that my entrepreneurial shined through and that I’m receiving this scholarship because of that.”

“It’s such a great honor for me, but most of all I feel so privileged to have a local community that’s so supportive of furthering my education and the education of the kids in the Bellevue School District. It’s nice to be from a community with a lot of resources that goes toward education,” Lee said. “I really want to encourage students like me in high school to go out and do good things in the community because it’s both personally enriching and also nice to be engaged and involved in the community, especially as a young person.”