Lakewood Ranch High senior vying for $250,000 scholarship

Addison Shea woke up in the middle of the night days after taking her Advanced Placement Biology exam during the last school year. 

Topics addressed on that exam flooded into her mind and sparked inspiration for a video she wanted to create to enter the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, an annual, global science video competition for high school students. 

Now a senior at Lakewood Ranch High School, Shea had an idea to explain chromatin regulation. She thought she could use the analogy of comparing pasta to DNA strands to explain DNA methylation and histone acetylation.

She said the comparison could be a helpful and accessible analogy to explain the concept. 

Contest judges agreed. Shea was one of 2,500 students selected from around the world to participate in the challenge, and she is now among the top 30 in the final stage of the challenge — the popular vote. Whoever receives the most "likes" on their video wins.

The winner will receive a $250,000 scholarship and also will be able to give $50,000 to the teacher of the winner's choice. The student's school will receive a $100,000 science lab. 

Shea's video is available on Facebook and YouTube. 

The challenge intrigued Shea because it required students to answer the "why" and "how" behind STEM concepts. 

It's the answer to those questions that attracts Shea to the sciences.

She said the beauty of science is being able to find applicable ways to explain concepts, answer why they're important, and show the relevancy. Her comparison of fettuccini pasta to DNA strands is an example.

It's the "a-ha" moments she has in the classroom that drive her to learn as much as she can, as she sees how everything is interconnected. For example, how biotechnology connects to sustainable agriculture. 

Once she had her idea for the video, Shea found the filming process stimulating. She stacked a pile of books and placed her camera on top to film herself. To bring her pasta analogy to life, she became a chef. Then she incorporated graphics and animation to liven up the video and make it more engaging as well as provide visual explanations. 

"It was exciting to see it finally come together," she said. 

Shea said winning the scholarship would be life-changing.

The scholarship would allow her to receive her undergraduate degree debt free. As a result, she said she will be able to afford to pursue a graduate degree. 

Shea's dream school is Yale University, but she also plans to apply to other Ivy League universities as well as the University of Michigan. She plans to double major in environmental science and computer science. 

She dreams of having a profession in academia and research, focusing mainly on environmental science. 

Being able to win a science lab for Lakewood Ranch High School would be an honor, Shea said. 

If she wins, she said she would give the $50,000 award to Samantha Biggs, the student support specialist at Lakewood Ranch High who also has taught her. 

Shea said it would be incredible to bring home those wins to her high school.

"I could support the school and these teachers who have supported me so much throughout these four years," she said. 

Biggs said Shea is a "once-in-a-lifetime" student.

"We have kids who come through Lakewood Ranch High School who are bright and hardworking, but Addison is a full-package kid," Biggs said. "She's kind, respectful, inquisitive beyond her peers. She always wants to know the why. It's inspiring when you sit back and watch a kid who's working through a problem that nobody else is even thinking of, and they ask those questions that elicit conversation in your classroom that never would have happened if it wasn't for those gears turning."