Just before spring break, 57 outstanding seniors from Americas and Montwood high schools were surprised with scholarships to attend the University of Texas at El Paso, providing opportunities for their future success.
The UTEP Excellence Scholarship provides funding between $2,000 and $8,000 for four years to students who not only excel academically but also showcase leadership through their involvement in community service and extracurricular activities.
Rosa Flores, director of UTEP’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, said that this year, UTEP adopted a holistic approach to increase the number of scholarships awarded.
Along with their GPAs, the university considered the overall experiences of seniors throughout their high school careers.
“Holistic for us means that it goes beyond just the ranking and the GPA,” Flores said. “It's also more about what they've done throughout their four years in high school, from leadership, from community service, from working, from helping parents, anything that they did matters now.”
Americas High School students received 38 scholarships, more than any other high school in the city.
“Having the most scholarships is a great feeling,” said Americas High School Principal Nancy Torres. “It shows that everything that we're doing as a community here at America's High School has taken the students to be where they need to be to, first and foremost, apply for the scholarship.”
Parents of scholarship recipients joined Torres, teachers, counselors, and UTEP officials in the school's theater to surprise the recipients on March 5.
Sergio Cordova plans to attend UTEP this fall and major in finance. He was grateful to receive a $5,000 scholarship, which will help alleviate some of the financial burden of paying for school. Cordova has maintained a high GPA over the past four years and is involved in 13 school clubs. He said that it feels rewarding to see his hard work pay off.
“I feel lucky, and I believe everything that I built up to till now, like it's definitely paid off. It feels nice to know that all that hard work and dedication towards things finally had a result,” Cordova said.
On March 7, 19 students at Montwood High School were surprised with scholarships in the school’s auditorium.
Softball player Kaylee Ramirez was shocked to see her parents sitting in the auditorium when she arrived for what she believed was an informational session.
She said it was great to celebrate the good news with her family, especially her younger sister, who cheered loudly when Ramirez was called to the stage to receive her award letter.
“I have three other siblings, two of which are already in college, so the money does help a lot,” said Ramirez who plans to study nursing. “It does help a lot financially, and then it does help with the decision of, like, where I'm going to go to college.”
During the presentation, Montwood High School Principal David Herrera told recipients that the scholarships represented their first step into a world of new opportunities.
“This scholarship is more than just financial support,” Herrera said. "It is a vote of confidence in your potential, a key to unlocking new opportunities and a reminder that your dreams are valid and achievable.”
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