Muhammad (Finance, Bentley University)

Muhammad's AP Calculus teacher describes him as "relentless in his pursuit of mastery." That relentlessness showed up early, when, as a 10-year-old immigrant from Pakistan living in Coney Island and intent on improving his English, he would strike up a conversation with random people on the Boardwalk.

His pattern of challenging himself continued: he went out for the swimming team without knowing how to swim, for the bowling team without knowing how to bowl and for the chess team without knowing how to play. He also took seven AP classes, scored high on the SATs, and ranked 11th out of 269 in his class at Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences. Next stop is Bentley University, near Boston, and then a business career following his fascination with financial markets.

Muhammad honored Andrew Drenth, his Spanish teacher from Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences.