Canyons District Student Named 2025 General Sterling Scholar

A Corner Canyon High tech-savvy senior who already has landed a college-level internship at a global software company is the 2025 General Sterling Scholar, one of the most prestigious academic awards given to Utah high school students.  

Xiaocheng “Emily” Ai won the top Sterling Scholar honor, as well as the prize in the scholarship competition’s computer technology category, during a Thursday, April 17 evening ceremony at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Conference Center.  

In all, the Charger, who plans to attend Stanford University, ended the evening with $5,000 in scholarship money. 

“This award is a motivator. … It’s like, ‘Oh, well, then maybe I can do this,’” Ai, who plans major in computer science, told the Deseret News. “I’ve been struggling with a lot of imposter syndrome, you know, because (Stanford) is a big school … but this is a big motivator for me, and I’ll continue to do my best and try my very hardest,”

Ai, who bested 167 students for the General Sterling Scholar honor, is an intern at Lucid Software as a front-end engineer — a position usually reserved for college students.

She also is a student board member for SheTech, an organization that supports young women in STEM. One of Ai’s high-tech innovations, according to KSL, is developing a “program that can predict the likelihood of heart attacks using patient data and a Mario-inspired platform game.”

Fellow Corner Canyon Charger Blake Hullinger also was a big winner at this year’s Sterling Scholar competition.

Hullinger, who began playing piano when he was 5 years old, also has become a dynamic instrumentalist on the guitar, drums, saxophone, and bass. He’s performed across the U.S. and in Canada and has earned a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. 

Two Hillcrest students were named runners-up in their categories.  Marla Tumenjargal and Anika Mukherjee were runners-in computer technology and English, respectively.

The Sterling Scholar scholarship program is sponsored by KSL-TV, the Deseret News, the LDS Church, and the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation. 

Winners in the 13 categories earn $2,500 scholarships.  Runners up in each category receive $1,000.  

Categories include business and marketing; science; dance; English; family and consumer sciences; instrumental music; mathematics; skilled and technical sciences; social science; visual arts; vocal performance; world languages; and speech, theater arts, and debate.