The Upakar Foundation recently announced that Shobhit Jain, of Branchburg, New Jersey, is the recipient of the Geeta Rastogi Memorial Scholarship for the Performing Arts.

The aspiring filmmaker rounds out Upakar’s class of 2017, including its first-ever community college awardee, increasing the total to 20 current Upakar scholars.

Upakar was founded in 1997 in part to combat Indian American community stereotypes, including that every child can afford a college education. In addition, Upakar has long recognized non-traditional Indian American career pursuits by its scholarship recipients and has publicized role models in these professions.

Jain was the valedictorian of his high school class. He served as class president for all four years and also led the student council and the local chapters of the Key Club and Model United Nations Club. Jain also holds a first-degree black belt in taekwondo and served as a columnist for the Branchburg News.

In the fine arts realm, he has performed with the Satrangi School of Fusion, a Bollywood dance troupe. His short film “Me, Myself, & I” won Best High School Dark-Comedy at the 2012 International Student Film Festival in Hollywood and an “Honorable Mention” at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Jain will be attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts to study film and television.

Source: IndiaWest