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As the age of 11, Brooklyn high school senior Kevin Cheriyan emigrated from his home in India, where he was a star badminton player. He quickly learned that the sport wasn't quite so popular in Brooklyn.

"They don't have badminton here in the United States, so I had to continue with tennis," says Cheriyan.

He picked up the sport quickly and earned himself a spot on the Abraham Lincoln High School varsity tennis team. His interest in learning and excelling at the sport was apparent from the start.

"Always came to practice early, always stayed late, never wanted to go home," says varsity tennis coach Michael O'Hanlon. "He was always willing to help me out, whether it was collecting the nets or collecting the balls, he was always there for us."

Cheriyan's passion for learning can be found both in his tennis game and his love of physics. During matches, he's even found a way to combine the two, to the dismay of some of his teammates.

"Sometimes the velocity of the ball might be when you hit the ball with the racquet right back after someone hits it to you, some of my teammates get a little worked up when I start talking about physics during the games.

Cheriyan hopes to continue with both tennis and physics next year at the University of Maryland, where he will major in electrical engineering and eventually earn a Ph.D.

Such high aspirations are not a surprise to his teachers.

"There's kids that are intrinsically motivated and somehow it just comes from inside of them, their own value of knowledge and wanting to learn. Then there's kids that are only working for rewards and to get into college. The money and rewards are going to be external to them," says A.P. Psychology teacher Faith Diangelis. "For him, I really think it's an intrinsic thing. If there's something to know, he wants to know it."

So, for having passion that fills everything he sets his mind to do, Kevin Cheriyan is the latest Health Plus/NY1 Scholar Athlete.

The Health Plus/NY1 Scholar Athlete program celebrates student athletes who successfully combine academics with athletics, and also find time for community service. The program, operated in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education, is open to any senior attending a New York City public high school.

Each week of the school year, a selected student is profiled on NY1 and receives a $2,000 scholarship to the school they choose to attend in the fall.

To apply, download and print out the official Scholar Athlete application, then mail it to the address on the form.