ACHIEVEMENT: Three Poly AVID students are semifinalists for the Dell Scholarship.
By Martina Krakora, Staff Writer
The Dell Scholarship is a scholarship program which recognizes “students who have overcome significant obstacles in pursuit of their education,” as described by DellScholars.org. The scholarship awards its finalists with not only $20,000, a laptop and credits towards purchasing college textbooks, but it also provides the finalists with any support and assistance they may need to deal with emotional challenges that would prevent them from completing their college educations.
To receive the benefits of being a Dell Scholarship Finalist, an applicant must participate in an approved Michael and Susan Dell Foundation college readiness program (such as AVID) in their junior and senior years, graduate from an accredited high school in the current academic year, earn a minimum GPA of 2.4, demonstrate need for financial assistance, meet the requirements to receive a federal pell grant in the first year of college and plan to enroll full time in a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited higher education institution in the fall of the year they graduate. In addition to these requirements, a scholarship recipient must demonstrate individual determination to succeed, have future goals that he or she plans to achieve, possess the ability to communicate the hardships he or she has overcome or is currently facing and have self-motivation, which is demonstrated in completing challenging coursework. Numerous qualifications are summed up in the scholarship foundations acronym “GPA”: Grit by overcoming personal challenges in life related to family, school and community; Potential by participating in college readiness programs and seeking out academic rigor; and Ambition by dreaming of obtaining a college degree. Of the many students who apply for the scholarship, only a few are awarded semifinalist status and only 300 are actually awarded with the scholarship.
At Poly High School, three AVID seniors have been awarded Dell Scholarship Semifinalist status: Marilena Paz, Angel Villa and Cynthia Rosales.
Paz, Villa and Rosales are all in Mrs. Carly Soto’s fourth period AVID seminar and have plans for their future. Paz wishes to attend California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) to study criminal justice. After university, Paz plans on using her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice to become a criminologist. As a backup plan, Paz said she will “minor in law so [she] can work in law.” If she is to become a Dell Scholar, Paz plans on using the money and resources to pay for housing at CSULB.
Villa, the second Dell Scholar Semifinalist, hopes to attend La Sierra University and either major in business or mathematics. After college, Villa plans to pursue a career, which she is still “undecided” on, but perhaps become a teacher and start a family. If she were to receive the scholarship, Villa would use the money to pay for college.
Rosales, the third semifinalist, hopes to attend “either University of California, Santa Barbara or University of California, Irvine,” and major in biology. After college, Rosales plans on going to medical school and eventually becoming a pediatrician. She would put the money toward her tuition and a new laptop if she were to win.
The scholarship has many applicants and few winners, but each Poly student who is awarded the honor of being a semifinalist has overcome hardships in their past which qualify them for this honor.