Victoria Williams (BRMHS ’22) was named a 2022 Louisiana Young Hero, an honor at least one BRYC Fellow has held for the past six years. Academically, it’s hard to beat Victoria’s 4.57 GPA and 34 ACT composite score, and it’s no surprise she was also chosen EBR Parish’s Student of the Year. But it’s a drive to address environmental injustice that’s at the heart of her heroism. 

Junior year, BRYC paired Victoria with mentor Mario Durbic to prepare for the Louisiana State Science & Engineering Fair. Her project focused on the effects of nanoparticles in water on crawfish lungs. At the competition, Victoria earned an overall honorable mention for nanoparticle research in the microbiology category and second place in Louisiana Region VII. 

This fall, Victoria will attend Columbia University in New York to study chemical engineering on a full scholarship. “I want to use my degree to sort of improve science education for low-income students,” she shared. “It’s not something that’s super emphasized.”

Victoria was also the co-founder and senior president of BRMHS’s Black History Quiz Bowl Club, and she volunteered with the Latin Roots program at Westdale Middle School.