I LOVE READING ABOUT GREAT THINGS PEOPLE DO FOR OTHERS. Read below and enjoy. Valedictorian gives classmate a $40K lift By Mike Hornick Instead of one person attending a university, two will, thanks to the generosity of Everett Alvarez High School valedictorian Leticia Garcia-Romo. Garcia-Romo, 18, had more money for college than she probably needed: a near-full ride to Princeton University plus a $40,000 Matsui Foundation scholarship. She could have kept it all, but gave the $40,000 to classmate Hector Rojas. Rojas, who had applied for a Matsui scholarship, was caught off guard by the gift, though he said it was consistent with his friend's character. "I was shocked," he said. "But I know her. I wasn't expecting it, but somehow I could feel that she would pass down the scholarship to me. It was still a surprise." Because he is an undocumented resident, Rojas — who is bound for the University of California, Davis — faced even steeper funding challenges than most new high school graduates. "Since I'm undocumented, I can't get help from the Cal grant or the government," said Rojas, who was in the top 10 percent for grades in Everett Alvarez's graduating class. "The tuition, room and board adds up to $25,000 and I had no help to pay that. The $40,000 can pay the tuition part for four years." "This is the greatest thing that's happened to me," he added. "It's the only opportunity Hector would have to go to college," Garcia-Romo said. "I had pretty much a full ride, so I didn't need the money, and I decided to help someone else." The Matsui Nursery Foundation encourages scholarship recipients to return to Salinas after college and give back something to the community. Both students said they plan to do so. "We would like to come back and help the community that's helped us," Garcia-Romo said. "I'd come back and be a teacher, doctor or lawyer. I don't know yet what I want to do, but I do want to come back." Rojas, 17, intends to major in math at UC Davis. "After I graduate, I'd like to come back here and probably be a math teacher at Alvarez or Alisal high schools," he said. Both are motivated by their heritage and experiences. "I'm the first one in my family to graduate from high school," Rojas said, "and the first to attend a university." He feels that as a teacher, he'd be well suited to helping Salinas youth. "There are a lot of kids here dealing with gangs, drugs and violence," Rojas said. "I can understand their stories and background. I would be a teacher who would reach out to them." Garcia-Romo thanked her parents, who migrated here from Mexico. "They work hard," she said. "They came over, they risked their lives to have a better future. So I want to have a better future as well. That's one of the motivations to go so far away. Princeton is far away, but I'm going to get a great education. If my parents could come all the way here, I can go there." She will attend Freshman Scholars Institute at Princeton starting July 19. "The [Matsui] scholarship was awarded the day I was visiting Princeton," she said. "I talked to the financial aid people there and it was pretty much a full ride. I would have to work for $1,000 or $2,000. I'd rather return the scholarship so that someone in Salinas or Alvarez could get it." At Davis, Rojas plans to live off-campus to save money and to look at other funding and work options to cover his non-tuition expenses. Eighteen students won Matsui Foundation scholarships this year. The scholarship was established to help graduating high school seniors and community college sophomores who have demonstrated outstanding potential for success in college but are experiencing economic hardship. This year, the foundation awarded one scholarship at each of Monterey County's 14 comprehensive public high schools, and two scholarships at each of the county's two community colleges. The foundation is in its sixth year of operations. Since 2004, the foundation has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships. |
07/05/2009
