When Barrington native and University of Pennsylvania student Om Gandhi heard the announcement that he was selected to be a Rhodes Scholar, he was in disbelief.“I lost feeling in my legs, I was in such shock," Gandhi told the Sun-Times on Sunday.He will be joined by two University of Chicago students, Francesco Rahe and Anqi Qu, among this year's 32 Rhodes Scholars.Oxford University’s 122-year-old scholarship program for American students covers tuition, fees and other expenses along with a stipend of more than $24,000 a year, or about $75,000 in total and can be extended for a four-year stay at the school. Nearly 3,000 students from 243 U.S. schools applied for the scholarship. Sixteen selection committees across the nation then interviewed 238 finalists before picking the final 32.Gandhi, 20, is a co-director of Locust Bioventures, president of the Wharton Undergraduate Healthcare Club, vice president of the Penn Undergraduate Biotech Society and editor-in-chief of the Penn Healthcare Review. He also is on the national leadership team for nonprofit Parkinson Pals and volunteers with local clinics to provide health care services to uninsured patients with chronic diseases.He's currently pursuing a master’s degree in bioengineering and majoring in neuroscience with a public health concentration, though in layman's terms, his focus is on aggressive cancerous tumors that are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. He has co-authored more than 10 peer-reviewed manuscripts and presented at several national conferences.“Being able to have a vision of your future and introspect on all of that, that was real progress, and that was real important to me,” Gandhi said. Related $500 scholarship will go to student who cooks up the best ending for ‘The Bear’ Chicago college students left in lurch after losing promised scholarships weeks before school starts Fourth-year University of Chicago students Rahe and Qu are the 54th and 55th students from the school to be awarded the scholarships, and the first since 2018.Rahe is a religious studies major and also started the school's first inter-faith discourse group. He plans to pursue a master's degree in Classical Indian Religion and eventually becoming a literary translator so he can help create more dialogue between belief groups.He’s also in the middle of writing his 13th novel and is proficient in Sanskrit, Persian, German, biblical Hebrew, Latin and Arabic.“When we’re only reading literature from our own language and the perspective of our own belief system, this leaves us vulnerable to misinformation about other groups,” Rahe said in a statement released by the university. “I want to fight back against those kinds of divisions by increasing the number of accessible translations of religious texts, so that everyone can have access to the vast and beautiful corpus of literary works situated within religious traditions.”Qu plans to pursue a graduate degree in economics at Oxford next fall while studying methods of applying AI to economic research and policy, and setting standards to prevent abuse of it. She currently studies economics with a specialization in data science and statistics.“We are at a pivotal point in history where AI can democratize knowledge and spur unprecedented progress, but it can also drive inequality and entrench disadvantages,” Qu, who is from Johannesburg, South Africa, wrote in her Rhodes application. “As we work on this frontier, it’s essential to consider critically the social structures we are establishing for future generations. I see the development of equitable AI as one of humanity’s most pressing challenges, and I’m committed to ensuring that the outcome is a more just society.”But for the honorees, it’s more than just an achievement to pad their resumes — it’s a validation of their dreams, recognition of their support systems and encouragement to keep making strides in their fields.“We’re moving cancer care in the right direction, and that’s not just me, that’s the entire village supporting me," Gandhi said. "Our work is far from over, so I really do think of it as a call to action. What this represents is a reminder to keep doing the good work, and do it at a more profound scale.”Cecil Rhodes, a British colonialist and entrepreneur, established the Rhodes Scholarship in 1902 through his will. Previous Rhodes Scholars include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson.