From Lakewood to Yale: William Kohut joining some elite company as Ivy Leaguer

Editor's note: This is one of several feature stories The Advocate is publishing this graduation season about Licking County graduates. For more, see the May 26 print edition or visit newarkadvocate.com.

HEBRON – To put it mildly, William Kohut is creative.

Be it making a plastic out of thin air, beautiful music with his violin playing and singing or writing inspirational essays, the Lakewood High School senior always takes the next step to accomplish what he wants.

That talent and intuition has driven him to join some elite company for his school, as this fall he will become its first Ivy Leaguer since Eric Parrish (Pennsylvania), Evan Barton (Cornell) and Barton's sister Julia Stammen (Brown) when he attends Yale University.

"He loves math and science, but it's not one-sided," said Candace Haudenschild, Kohut's Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher at Lakewood. "He's well-rounded. He's very inquisitive. When he learns something, he has to know everything about it. He has to know why, and does not take things at surface level."

"Well-rounded" may not do him justice.

He was president of Student Council, vice president of the National Honor Society, was active in drama club and choir and played violin at Denison University through the Suzuki program where he has played with the Martin Ensemble. Kohut also plays with the Newark-Granville Orchestra.

"He has been one of our go-to's for representing Lakewood High School," Principal Kevin Krier said. "He was one of our Newark Rotary Club students and was a student representative on our school board. He pushes himself in class and never takes a step back, doing a lot of hours after school with his AP Prep studies."

Kohut recently was Licking County's honoree for the 35th Franklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Award from the Ohio Educational Service Center Association, representing Licking Regional ESC along with Tri-Valley's Alivia Sims in Muskingum County. He was nominated by Lakewood counselors Phil Sikorski and Valerie Kieffer.

"I was pretty happy. I was pretty excited," Kohut said. "I was not able to go (to the awards ceremony) because I was visiting Yale at that time, but it is quite the honor."

It was quite the process to become a "Yalie." There were only 2,000 students accepted for this fall at Yale, which was just 3.7%, the lowest ever. Kohut also visited other schools along the east coast, and narrowed it down to Harvard and Yale.

"Basically, it came down to my heart," William said. "We ran into this student at Yale, and he ended up getting us to where we needed to be, and even took us on a tour of the whole campus. His name was also William. You get that goal in your mind, that you want to be here and that you can do it. It's surreal. It's magnificent."

As part of the application process, Kohut had to write essays, and that's what set him apart, he said. He set his priority to get into Yale during the fall, and he stepped away from his extracurriculars for a couple of months. "I had a great team behind me," he said.

"I lost my father last year, Tim Kohut, to Parkinson's disease," he continued. "He was an Air Force veteran who worked in the Pentagon and served many countries. I wrote about him in my essays. It was a lot of self-exploration, and I learned a lot about myself."

His mother, Maryna, came to the United States from Ukraine, and he still has around 50 family members there, some in other countries. "I still talk to family daily," Kohut said. "Every two or three years, we go to Ukraine."

He couldn't be where he is without his guidance and knowledge from Lakewood.

"It's been a great thing to watch him progress and become a critical thinker," Haudenschild said. "He takes the data and works through problems and is not afraid to fail. He's learned to be resilient and keep going, to be proactive and think things out and apply what he's learned. We are mostly theory here, and he's taken what he's learned and put it into action. It's not just me. It's our whole staff, and we're really proud of him."

Liz Hawthorn, now a high school teacher, stoked his interest in science fair during the eighth grade. It has led to big things with his latest science project, which is actually more than that. He scored 40 out of 40 in the district, earned a superior rating and has won two other awards. It's called co-polymerization of carbon dioxide.

"I've basically created a polymer, or plastic, out of thin air," he said. "It's not the same as the plastic in water bottles. It has the consistency of maple syrup, and I've tested it. I've bonded it together with water and dry ice. The biggest thing is to get the cost further down and get sustainability."

To complete the project, he enlisted the help of Denison University chemistry and biochemistry professors Joe Reczek and Quintin Cheek.

Kohut is in line to be salutatorian of his Lakewood senior class, and is good friends with valedictorian Jacob Rafferty, who will be entering pre-law. "He also recently lost a parent," Kohut said.

He plans on being a doctor and making a difference in the world. He'll major in chemistry and will be on the pre-med track.

"The classes at Yale will open some wide doors for me," Kohut said. "There's a lot of different opportunities, such a variety of options now in the medical field."

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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: From Lakewood to Yale: William Kohut joining some elite company as Ivy Leaguer