We are proud to announce the winner of the 2021 L. Thomas Wolff, M.D. Scholarship, Celine Paliakkara.

Celine has an incredibly long list of accomplishments and awards she has won. With an exceptional grade point average, a 1540 score on her SAT and a 33 on her ACT, Celine is an incredibly bright student. She attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School and chose to attend a 4+4 BS/MD Program with SUNY Upstate Medical University. One of her counselors said that while it is not rare that a student tells you as a freshman exactly what they want to do as a career, it is rare for a student to have a plan and follow through in every way imaginable. Celine wants to stay in Central NY, to stay local and serve the underprivileged and rural areas of Upstate NY.

Equally impressive to her academic accomplishments, Celine also has a very long list of in-school service, volunteer, leadership activities, and community service activities. She became interested in becoming a doctor from an early age. She has attended numerous MASH camps, HealthQuest, volunteered at Upstate University Hospital in the summers, and throughout the school year organized events with her school’s Chemistry Club to teach science experiments to kids at the children’s hospital. She also worked part-time in a nursing home before and during the pandemic, sharing stories and life experiences with the residents. She hopes to continue this volunteer work as she attends college, using her core value of helping others to attend to a new community.