Many people dream about accomplishing great things, but few are the ones that actually make those dreams come true.

At the Islands, there were two students this year that received the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship. These scholars are seniors Rebecca Hernandez and Martin Hernandez.

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program  selects 1,000 talented students each year to receive a good-through-graduation scholarship to use at any college or university of a student’s choice. According to the Gates Millennium website:  “Our program is more than a scholarship — it’s an opportunity to change your life!”

As part of the application process, these two students wrote a total of 11 essays. That’s not including the online application, letter or recommendations, and the other various requirements. Months ago, Rebecca decided to give the Gates Millennium scholarship a shot.

“I had heard about it and I decided to take the risk.” said Rebecca.

Not only was she doing it for herself, but she was dedicating it towards her parents. If received, it was going to be a huge relief off her parents’ shoulders, but most importantly a reward for all their hard work.

She actually didn’t have anyone revise her essays, although Ms. Imelda Blanc read over her personal statement, which she used for one of her prompts. Having to do the other 10 other essays all on her own, made her feel even extremely proud because she gets to say it was all her work.

As for the letter of recommendations, her recommenders were Ms. Dorina Padilla, her Upward Bound adviser, and counselor Ms. Shirley Moore.

“Rebecca was a good candidate for the Gates Millennium Scholarship due to her hard work, involvement in school and the community, and because of her outgoing personality,”  stated Ms. Moore.

April 17 was one day Rebecca will never forget. Running from the shower, she went to get the mail, opened it, and was in complete shock. “I went to my room and started screaming,” she laughed. The best reward was receiving hugs from her family. And no, there were no tears involved.

“I’ve always believed in Rebecca and she knows that,” Ms. Moore said. “She better keep in touch, so I can brag about how amazing she’s doing for years to come. I’m so proud!”

Rebecca’s future plans are settled and finalized. She is going to attend UC Berkeley in the fall, majoring in Molecular Biology. After, she will go to veterinary medicine school to get her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine.

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Martin Hernandez received the most information regarding the Gates Millennium Scholarship at a workshop at USC during a MESA field trip.

Martin was not aware that the application had been open since August last year, until his friend asked him a week before the deadline if he had done it already. That was when he started to freak out. Even with only one week to get all his essays done, he didn’t decide to start until three days before the due date.

“I did eight essays over the period of time of 12 hours over two days,” said Hernandez.

His friend Kristian Dadacay from UC Berkeley quickly revised and made sure he got straight to the point on his essays. His recommenders were Ms. Monica Adrian and Ms. Moore.

Ms. Adrian, one of many of Martin’s coaches here at CI, was beyond proud of him.

“As his Mock Trial coach and English teacher, I’ve seen him outperform in many activities and always striving for success,” Ms. Adrian said. “It was a huge accomplishment for Martin: one out of 52,000 applicants.”

Martin is going to attend Stanford University this fall, majoring in Human Biology. After, he plans to transfer to medical school to become an ER Physician.

“Now with the Gates Scholarship, I want to go into a field that is covered by it when attending graduate school,” he said.