The last time Finney Manchala of Lakeside sat down in the Daily Inter Lake conference room for an interview about five and a half years ago was to talk about his plans for helping impoverished children overseas.

The then-seventh-grader displayed handmade cards he had been selling in order to raise money to cover education expenses for young children in some of the poorest parts of northern India — his country of origin.

The cards combined Manchala’s two loves: art and helping those in need.

Now, sitting in the conference room once again at age 17, it is evident those two passions have guided Manchala for most of his childhood and will continue to do so into his young adult life.

He recently won a national Parent Teachers Association award for a film he created that was entered into a contest with the theme “Heroes around me.” High school students from around the nation were able to choose various categories in which to submit projects that followed the theme. Manchala chose to enter projects under the film, literature, photography and visual-arts sections.

He won in all four categories for the state of Montana and progressed to nationals, where he won first place for his film titled “A Drop of Courage.” The 5-minute animated short film traces back in time, highlighting heroes from Moses to Mother Teresa.

“I started by thinking about heroes that I look up to and about ones that might be considered some of the biggest heroes I know throughout history. Helen Keller, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, a bunch of people,” Manchala said. “Out of all of my projects, I liked creating the film the most because creating an animated film was an entirely new experience for me.”

The film alone took Manchala about four months to create. According to his father, Raju Manchala, it wasn’t unusual for his son to work into the early morning hours.

“He spent a lot of late nights and extra time on that film and it’s very fulfilling to know he won after all of that hard work he put into it,” Raju said.

Manchala’s national film award is only the most recent of his achievements.

The homeschooled student just graduated from high school, and he also graduated with an associate degree — something he said was very challenging but reaped rewards far beyond a paper diploma.

“Finishing an associate’s by this age was not an easy accomplishment, so it’s probably what I feel most proud of out of everything I’ve done,” Manchala said, smiling.

Manchala eventually will attend Montana State University after finishing some prerequisites at Flathead Valley Community College. He plans on pursuing a major in computer science with a possible minor in engineering. He said his major of choice is one that allows him to combine all of his favorite passions — art, science, technology and, perhaps more unexpectedly, humanitarianism.

“At one point I wanted to go into engineering, but I wanted to do something that would allow me to have a bit more creative freedom and computers allow that,” Manchala said. “You can travel, you can work remotely, you can freelance.”

Over the years, Manchala has continued to build his generous spirit and aims to use computer science and engineering to better India and other foreign countries. So what began as a means to help those in need through simple gestures of art, has transformed into a career choice that he hopes will give him the ability to further that mission.

“I would like to do more in any way that I can,” Manchala said. “I’m not sure what that looks like yet, but I’m excited for it.”

The first leg of Manchala’s post-high school journey began on Monday when he embarked on a five-month discipleship training program through Youth With A Mission. The first three months is a “lecture phase” that will take him and a small group around the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park.

“They learn a lot of responsibility. It’s about learning to work with others and figuring out team dynamics and how to become better people,” Raju said. “They learn generosity, sacrifice, and serving.”

The last two months of the program will be spent in Nepal, where the team will take the skills learned during the first three months and put them toward philanthropic activities. Manchala has gone on a mission to Nepal before, as well as others in India, Thailand and elsewhere.

And in the meantime, when Manchala isn’t learning new Adobe programs, planning missions trips or working towards a degree, he takes a moment to return to his roots, place a pencil in hand, and make a couple of cards.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4439 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com