By Lauri Lee
Northside Business Association

The Northside Business Association sponsors an annual scholarship to an East High School graduate continuing their post-high school education in business or marketing. The East High School Award Ceremony was held Wednesday, May 3 at the high school.

This year’s scholarship recipient was Meryem Aksbi, a foreign exchange student planning to major in International Business at Hult International Business School in San Francisco. She is also considering attending MATC for two years and then transferring to Hult.

The 17-year-old Moroccan citizen came to Madison as part of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program, a post-9/11 U.S. Department of State effort that welcomes kids from predominantly Muslim countries for the scholastic year.

Meryem unexpectedly lost her father just before the East High School awards ceremony and had to return home on short notice. Since she didn’t know she had received a scholarship, I connected with her host family. While attending East High School, Aksbi lived with host family the Moroccan-born Rachid Ouabel and his wife, American-born Teresa Pullara, owner of Bunky’s Catering. “Meryem is an amazing young lady, very mature and insightful, respectful and funny, and a great inspiration,” said Pullara. “We truly consider her our daughter. We are very blessed to have her in our life and are very proud of her. She is so deserving of the scholarship.”