To fulfill the mission of University View Academy (UVA) to understand, engage, and empower each unique student for a career, for college, and beyond, we are always looking to celebrate our unique and empowered students. The next spotlight is on UVA freshman Anyalina Vertigan.
A resident of East Baton Rouge Parish, Vertigan has attended UVA since 2021 and is currently enrolled in the Early College Program. After completing eighth grade, Vertigan scored a perfect 36 on the ACT exam this past June. “I enjoy UVA because I have more time to study and a choice of which subjects to take,” Vertigan shared.
Both of Vertigan’s parents are mathematicians, and her older brother has won the MATHCOUNTS Baton Rouge Chapter Competition three times. Vertigan won first place in the MATHCOUNTS competition in February and placed high in the 2022 competition. It should come as no surprise that Vertigan’s favorite subject area is math.
In addition to MATHCOUNTS, she has participated in several other prestigious mathematics events. She placed top 5 females in the Louisiana + Mississippi region in the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 10 event. She ranked first in the state for her grade level in the 2023 Math Kangaroo competition, and she placed first in the Algebra I competition for Division I schools in the 2022 Louisiana State Literary Rally. Vertigan has competed above her grade level in almost every event and has been awarded AMC certificates for top-performing girls in math twice.
Math isn’t Vertigan’s only interest. She also has a passion for drama, swimming, dance, creative writing, foreign languages, and art. She was able to combine two of her interests last year in the 2022 Desmos Global Math Art Contest which requires participants to create an original work of art by plotting equations with an online graphing calculator. Vertigan was selected as one of 20 first place winners worldwide in her age group.
While Vertigan has no set university plans yet, she would like to attend MIT and become an astrophysicist. She has completed both the Wolfram Middle School Summer Camp and the Wolfram High School Summer Research Program in pursuit of this goal. The high school research program required a trip to Massachusetts and included an intensive two-week coding experience where students programmed a complete project on a subject of their choosing. Vertigan created a model of the formation of the solar system.
Vertigan’s impressive accomplishments are only motivated by enjoyment. “It’s fun,” she said simply when asked what drives her list of achievements. “What’s incredible is that she’s always happy,” shared her mother Jilyana. “She’s not stressed.”
UVA is proud to recognize Vertigan for her academic achievements as well as her passion in pursuing her goals. She embodies the model of an empowered and future-ready student with her broad range of interests and list of accomplishments.