Less than 48 hours after he learned he would not be a Rhodes Scholar, WashU senior Omar Abdelmoity hopped on a plane to interview for the equally prestigious — yet somehow more elusive — Marshall Scholarship. Only seven WashU students had been awarded the Marshall since its founding in 1953, compared to the university’s 30 Rhodes Scholars.
“I was, of course, disappointed when I didn’t get the Rhodes. I grew up playing competitive soccer and so yes, anything I go for, I try to win,” said Abdelmoity, who is majoring in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. “But standing there before the Marshall committee, I wasn’t thinking about the Rhodes; I wasn’t thinking about the odds. I was just focused on telling my story and helping those who are too often overlooked by our health-care system.”
That story began in high school in Overland Park, Kan., where Abdelmoity developed an education program to prevent suicide among Black teenagers after two friends died by suicide. It continues today at WashU Medicine, where Abdelmoity is researching Alzheimer’s disease among individuals with Down’s syndrome.