Reeya Verma is a high school student in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Lakeside High School in Georgia. Recently, she has been selected as a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia, which includes a full-ride merit scholarship with foreign travel, networking opportunities, and several other enrichment activities.

Her interest in public speaking sparked as a member and later president of the Toastmasters Gavel Club of Augusta, where she increased member numbers by over 300% and cultivated an environment of growth. Through weekly club meetings and continuously honing her skills in the IB Higher Level Language & Literature course, she was selected to attend the Georgia Governor's Honors Program as a Communicative Arts Major after 3 rigorous rounds of review. Here, she attended unique classes to establish a new way of understanding literary works' relationships to other texts and the world to which it belongs. As a creative and outspoken student, she was even selected to perform a slam poem duet on toxic masculinity at the GHP Coffeehouse. To extend her impact in her community, she successfully organized Augusta’s first TEDxYouth event with the theme "Adapt, Unite, Grow" to bring together fellow activists, thinkers, and doers to embrace and empower others.