Gulliver Prep senior Alaz Sengul is the Prep’s Silver Knight nominee for Mathematics. Using the logic-based reasoning skills he developed from his math classes, Sengul created a form that helped a college student with a brain tumor qualify for Social Security benefits.
His work on the particular case started at his internship with the University of Miami’s Health Rights Law Clinic.
“As a pro bono institution, their clients are referred to the clinic,” he says.
Even though he was a high school student, they allowed Sengul to be involved in the case.
“He had to drop out of college and quit his job,” Sengul says. “He applied twice and was denied both times. He was the perfect candidate for Social Security.”
“It was a bit overwhelming,” he says. “I’d never been responsible for a human life before. There was a law student who also helped me with the case.”
Sengul concluded a social security officer could be overwhelmed because of the dense medical information on the application.
“I wanted to clarify his qualifications for Social Security,” he says. “I designed a simple one-page form using the criteria for Social Security and had his doctor sign it. It was a bit of a risk, but we submitted it and a month or so later he began receiving Medicaid. We were overwhelmingly happy for him. It was personal for me.”
Apparently, that form resulted in one of the fastest resolutions for a Social Security case in the clinic’s history. It was so successful that they have continued to use the form. And, he was asked to present a case to the American Public Health Association conference.
“My abstract was on my summer internship experience and how my form can improve on the process for Social Security,” he says. “This October I flew to Denver. I was surrounded by thousands of health rights officials. I was the youngest person there.”
Sengul says the experience was mind-opening and rewarding.
“It changed my perspective on the impact one person can have in the community,” he says.
Essentially, he believes he logically proved how the young man was eligible for Social Security.
That internship helped him win an NIH sponsored research fellowship.
“That dealt with computational genetics,” he says. “The intersection between computer science and health. I coded a program that was able to sift through lab results and extract certain data and put it into a different file.”
Again, he says logic played a role in the success of his project.
At Gulliver, he’s part of the International Baccalaureate program. He’s also a musician. He’s played the violin since he was three.
“I love playing my instrument as a way to take my mind off things,” he says.
Sengul’s in charge of Gulliver’s music service club and he’s also the founder of the Gulliver Film Society.
Sengul says he has many different passions and he wanted to explore all of them before leaving high school. With so many passions, it’s hard to decide on a “best-fit” college major.
“I’ll see what path I end up taking, how I combine them,” he says. “I think I’m going to focus on computer science and big data.”
Through it all, Sengul believes that he could not have accomplished all his work and could not have discovered his passions without the support of his family, friends, school, and community.
“Having people to go and talk to for advice and insight is invaluable. I hope to expand on these friendships in college and beyond.”
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
haiiii alaz, its me cemra ily