ocasio-cortez went to high school in yorktown heights. she graduated in 2007. in high school and college, she was known as "sandy." she came in second in the microbiology category of the intel international science and engineering fair. her microbiology research project was about the effect of antioxidants on the lifespan of the nematode "c. elegans". mit lincoln laboratory named a small asteroid after her because of her science project. in high school, she took part in the national hispanic institute's lorenzo de zavala (ldz) youth legislative session. she later became the ldz secretary of state while she attended boston university. ocasio-cortez had a john f. lopez fellowship.