Giang's commitment to activities both off and on campus earned him a $1,000 "Leaders and Achievers" scholarship from The Comcast Foundation.

Giang was one of more than 1,000 high school students across the country—126 in California alone—to receive this scholarship, which is awarded to high school seniors for exemplary community service, leadership skills, positive attitude and academic achievement.

The 17-year-old intends to apply his scholarship toward an electrical engineering degree at California State University, Los Angeles.

Giang began his community service career while in elementary school, working through the Alma Community Center. He says his focus on work outside the classroom sometimes gave his parents pause.

"My mom and dad wanted me to get through the books," he says.

But getting involved in off-campus activities didn't hurt his academic performance at Willow Glen High School, where Giang was named to the National Honor Society.

"That was my biggest achievement in high school," he says.

His achievements also included serving as senior class president and participating in the San Jose Unified School District's robotics program. Giang says the latter pursuit taught him the value of teamwork.

This year's competition required building a robot to herd balls into a pit, he says.

"You really need to work together," Giang says. "Building the actual robot was hard, too, especially the mechanics around it. I focused mostly on the computer programming."

Giang also focused many of his community service efforts on San Jose's TEENS program, which he says involved "lots of community cleanups."

Not all the group's efforts were successful. "We tried to get a districtwide school dance going, but the district wouldn't allow it because of liability issues," Giang says.

Now, despite his parents' misgivings about his nonacademic activities, Giang says his younger sister, Anna, has taken up the service torch. He notes with some pride that Anna will serve on the student council at Booksin Elementary School next fall.

"My little sister is following in my footsteps," Giang says.

The elder Giang intends to continue his community service work while in college. He credits Melissa Foster, who teaches the leadership class at the high school, with inspiring him to integrate community service into his daily life.

"She helped me to get involved a lot," he says. "I personally believe that classroom education is only half of being in high school. By getting involved, you learn lots of aspects of living. It gives you a sense of fulfillment."