Idaho Falls HS grad earns presidential scholarship, Harvard admission

IDAHO FALLS — Claire Yoo is among Idaho Falls High School’s newest graduating class. In the fall, she will be attending Harvard with the assistance of the U.S. Presidential Scholarship.

Yoo told EastIdahoNews.com that she received an email several months ago informing her she had been nominated for the scholarship and, based on her SAT scores, she was being considered. She fully understood how difficult it would be to earn the award, but completed the application process.

As Yoo explained, she had already been accepted to Harvard, but was looking for further resume fodder.

“I had already gotten into college and I was looking for things that could build my resume. It just jumped out as something that I could do,” she said.

She said she was pleasantly surprised when she received a “winners notification” email.

“I was so happy,” she said. “My parents were so happy — so proud of me. It was a great day.”

Yoo was one of 161 students to receive the scholarship nationally, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education. She joins Shiva Aaron Rajbhandari, from Boise High School, as the only recipients from the state of Idaho.

“U.S. Presidential Scholars have always represented the future of our country and the bright promise it holds,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the release. ”I want each of these remarkable students to know: your passion and intellect, pursuit of excellence and spirit of service are exactly what our country needs.”

Yoo is currently aiming to study integrative biology on a pre-med track when she begins her Harvard journey. She hopes to find a career path in studying chronic pain upon completing medical school.

“It’s really interesting. It’s, sort of, at this intersection of psychology and medicine — there’s a lot of factors that go into it and I think that sort of multidimensional problem is something that is really interesting to study.”

A medical career has been an aspiration for Yoo for the past six years, she said. Before that, she added, she was not a “conscious enough person” to have a focused dream.

It all started with a basic biology class in middle school. With a newly-triggered interest, she took an anatomy course. From that moment, she knew what she wanted to do with her life.

She also knew she wanted to leave Idaho for college.

“I love Idaho … it was a great place to grow up,” she said. “But I think college is all about gaining new experiences and, sort of, spending those formative years of your life in a new environment.”

Asked what she will miss most about the only home she has known, Yoo joked, “Clean air.”

Seriously, she said she would miss the many great friends that have been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. She will also miss the great skiing east Idaho offers.

But, this will not be her first trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts. She visited the campus and nearby Boston during a summer program in 2021.

She has also spent time on the east coast and in western Europe when she did a monthlong residency as a violinist in the National Youth Orchestra of United States of America. As part of that adventure, she performed twice in New York’s Carnegie Hall.

“It was insane. It was incredible,” she said of her experience traveling with the orchestra.

Now that high school is over, Yoo said she has options for the summer — before she heads to Harvard.

Her family has planned a trip to Cancun — but she may skip that.

During an internship at INL last year, Yoo conceptualized an app that would digitize wait times. She has been invited back this year to prototype that — but she might not do that either.

What she is focusing on now is catching up on the sleep she has missed out on the past four years — and even more she knows she’ll be deprived of in the coming years.

Asked for one unique fact about her that, aside from her family and closest friends, no one knew, Yoo struggled. She said she loves to paint and draw, but most people know that about her.

“I talk too much, so I feel like a lot of people know way too much about me. … I recently taught myself how to crochet. I have a lot of artistic interests. I like sharing my life with other people. I think that it’s a great joy of life.”