Three graduating seniors from Wisconsin received an honor of a lifetime this week when they were awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars award, a top award from the Department of Education.

Two of the Wisconsin students on the receiving end live in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Ethan Zentner is a senior at Nicolet High School in Glendale and Ananya Bhatt is a senior at Brookfield Central Schools in Brookfield. The other Wisconsin student honored is Saskatoon Robert Fuzz Damm from Medford Area Senior High School.

The award is given to 161 students across the country chosen by Presidential Scholar Commissioners appointed by the President. Scholars must demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in academics and other measures including a commitment to public service.

The unique part of this award is you can't apply for it. Students are nominated based on their standardized test scores on the SAT and/or ACT. Then, if the student decides to participate he or she must write a handful of essays and fill out a more in-depth application.

When Ethan first found out he had won, he thought it was a scam.

"I got a very fancy letter in the mail saying that I had been nominated for this program and there was so much, so much governmental nomenclature or so much jargon and so many fancy seals that I wasn't sure if it was legit or not," Ethan Zentner said.

Ananya was shocked when she learned the news too and almost missed the email altogether.

"I got a text from my friend who was like, "Hey, congrats Miss U.S. 2023 Presidential Scholar" and I because their email had actually gone to my spam, I had no idea," Ananya Bhatt said.

Both scholars scored exceptionally well on their standardized tests, Ananya earning a 35 on the ACT and a 1560 on the SAT. Ethan received a 35 on the ACT the first time he took it, but determined to get a perfect score he kept taking the exam scoring a 35 each time until his fifth attempt when he achieved his goal.

"It was it was delightful," Ethan said of receiving the perfect score. "I mean, my first emails were to the people who told me not to take it again."

Both scholars credit their teachers friends and most importantly family for supporting them throughout their education. Ananya also acknowledged the sacrifices her family has made for her, moving to the U.S. from India when she was just two years old.

Ethan will continue his education at the Massachusetts's Institute of Technology in the Fall. He plans to major in aerospace engineering and continue his passion project -- a passenger capable drone or a hexacopter as he calls it. The science fair project is something he's been working on since his sophomore year of high school and he's already reached out to researchers at MIT to continue working on the invention.

As for Ananya she plans to study at the University of Toledo's eight-year medical school program. She wants to major in neuroscience with the hope of one day helping patients with mental health illnesses.

The scholars will be honored with a presidential medallion and a virtual recognition ceremony.