With two full-ride scholarships and a very long history of community service, Charles Kotrba is one of the most successful students in the WY senior class. Kotrba has been accepted into many prestigious colleges and has received scholarships from every one.  He is also part of the leadership in many different clubs and organizations. When asked to speak about his involvement in his community, Kotrba says, “My two most meaningful activities are educational initiatives that I have led with the Junior Economic Club of Chicago (JEC) and Chicago Students Union (CSU).”  Kotrba is a board member of the JEC, and through his work with them he created High Returns, which is a ”financial literacy initiative in which our members teach workshops on finance to eighth grade students in Chicago.” Kotrba is also a Lead Organizer with CSU, where he states “my goal is to bring positive change to education by empowering students to amplify their voice.”

Kotrba has been accepted into many renowned universities, namely Vanderbilt, Tulane, and American. Of these prestigious schools, Kotra chose to attend the most distinguished, Vanderbilt University.  All of the schools that accepted Kotrba really wanted him to attend them, and because of this, many offered him very large scholarships.”I’m going to Vanderbilt as an Ingram scholar, one of 13 chosen from 1,050 for a full-tuition, four-year scholarship based on community service. I also received a full-ride scholarship, the Deans’ Leadership award, for four years to Tulane,” says Kotrba.  While most students would consider themselves very lucky to receive one full-ride scholarship, Kotra received two. Kotrba’s diligent work ethic and passion for community service are what have given him such success in the academic world.