Teen deemed model citizen
S.B. High junior one of 50 to win award from Hamilton Friends Assoc.
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

Anusha Pamula

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - A South Brunswick High School student was chosen as one of 50 Alexander Hamilton Citizen Achievement Award winners throughout the country.

The student, Anusha Pamula, was selected for what the Alexander Hamilton Friends Association saw as exemplary demonstrations of citizenship and community service.

The Seattle-based organization is devoted to recognizing and rewarding the achievements of young people in the name of founding father Alexander Hamilton, who was still quite young when he played an instrumental role in the American Revolution. Pamula will receive a $500 cash award, a copy of the biography "Alexander Hamilton" autographed by author Ron Chernow, a celebratory proclamation signed by Doug Hamilton, the fifth great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, and the opportunity to qualify for an all-expenses-paid week of leadership education in Seattle in June 2008.

"I feel extremely honored and fortunate that the AHFA chose me to receive the Gold Award, so I would like to thank to AHFA for recognizing me. I am also very excited because I am being offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a one-week leadership conference in Seattle next year," Pamula said in an e-mail.

The Monmouth Junction resident keeps herself quite busy with a large number of interests and extracurricular activities. At school she participates in the Red Cross Club, Junior Statesmen of America (JSA), Model United Nations, Habitat for Humanity, and the Military Education Club. She is also a member of her school's chapter of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society.

Pamula also takes part in a number of activities outside of school. She is a member of the volunteer organization Support Organization for Kids in Need (SOFKIN), through which she once spent time in India helping at an orphanage. She has also been practicing classical Indian dance, Kathak in particular, since she was 3 years old. After coming to the states with her family when she was 7, she continued her lessons and recently completed the Indianica Academy's eight-year program on that dance.

"When I moved here, I wanted to continue dancing and stick to my roots and culture, so I started learning classical Kathak at Indianica Academy. I love Kathak because it is unique and makes me feel like I'm close to my culture. It gives me this sense of freedom because when I dance, I don't worry about anything else. It is definitely one of my passions," said Pamula.

She spends time teaching classical Indian dance to others. She also teaches karate, in which she holds a black belt after four years of practice. In addition, Pamula helps conduct search and rescue projects and other community service with the Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary, in which she recently was promoted to cadet lieutenant. She will be making her first solo flight this summer. She became interested in it when family friends told her it was a good way to learn to fly airplanes.

Pamula hopes all these things can be leveraged into a career in diplomacy, either with the U.S. State Department or the United Nations, saying she believes in what it does. She wants to study international relations in college to further prepare herself for this.

George Cox, president of the Alexander Hamilton Friends Association, noted that her far-reaching and diverse interests, as well as her extensive community service, was why his organization was greatly impressed by Pamula.

"Our goal is to identify young people who have set high standards for citizenship and achievement in their lives. We are very excited about Anusha's potential for future greatness. The junior community is lucky to have her as a resident," Cox said.