As I came out of the MIT Z-Center this afternoon, I caught sight of a huge tent with a multitude of ergs all lying parallel along the length of Kresge lawn. Of course, this would be the much anticipated MIT Erg-A-Thon from our partners, MIT Amphibious Achievement!
This Erg-A-Thon runs from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM and is AA's annual fundraiser, except that this year, we managed to work with co-founder Noam Angrist in 2013 as well as current co-president Alice Huang to make something additionally special happen: Noam mentioned they had toyed with the idea of creating a scholarship to be awarded to one of their high school mentees (called "Achievers") on an annual basis. The idea of attributing a scholarship in memory of Phyo (who was a mentor for Amphibious Achievement) was perfect - The scholarship would embody Phyo's spirit of teaching, growth, and scholarship for youth.
So, this year, when you contribute to the MIT Erg-A-Thon, 10% of up to $5000 raised will go towards a PN2K $500 Achievement Award. This $500 fund will be granted to a graduating Achiever to support her/his aspirations through higher education.