Hard Work Pays Off

CI seniors earn Gates Millennium Scholarship

Hard+Work+Pays+Off

It’s time for one lucky person to be in the senior spotlight, well in this case two. We have Ivan Covarrubias and Alicia Kuwata here to have a light shine on their achievements. This achievement is an academic one, they have both earned the Gates Millennium Scholarship.                     Now, for some background information. The Gates Millennium Scholarship was founded by Bill Gates, the one who made Microsoft, and started way back when in 1999. This scholarship will give the winner a full ride through any college of their choosing in America, up to a Ph.d, and even offer leadership opportunities, mentoring, and academic and financial support. But how does one get the Gates Millennium Scholarship? Both students had to write 8 essays on various topics and had to have a couple letters of recommendation. The Gates Millennium Scholarship is an award that isn’t handed out very often, only a few students receive it each year. Channel Islands has had two other students get the Gates Millennium Scholarship as well, Martin Hernandez and Rebecca Hernandez. Martin is now attending Stanford University and Rebecca attends the University of California, Berkeley.

With every scholarship and college essay, there are letters of recommendations. Alicia Kuwata asked for letters from her chemistry teacher that she had last year, Mr. Lucas, and one from her Upward Bound counselor, Cuauhtemoc Solorio. Solorio wrote in his letter of recommendation about how Kuwata is the ideal student and person, saying that  she is very bright and a very meaningful person. Solorio highlighted Kuwata’s ability to be a natural leader, her intellect, and her ability to perform to her full potential. Solorio also mentioned that Kuwata went to other resources to find and answer of to help herself with as well as her involvement in our school. “Alicia was one of my most memorable students in my AP Chemistry class and I felt that she’d be an excellent candidate for the Gates Millennium Scholarship, so I was pleased to write the nomination letter.” said Mr. Lucas, as I was talking to him about Kuwata. So I asked Mr. Lucas what he wrote about in his letter and he said that she is a top notch student that “epitomizes” one for the Gates Millennium Scholarship and was truly deserving.  Kuwata will be attending University of California Los Angeles and planning on getting a major in biology.

Ivan had to have letters of recommendation as well, but he had Mrs. Adrian and Mrs. Coria write them. “Ivan is an exceptional young man and I am truly blessed to have worked with him and glad he joined Mock Trial in his freshman year.” A quote from Mrs.Adrian when I was talking with her about Ivan. In her letter of recommendation for Ivan, Mrs. Adrian wrote about his academic strengths, his abilities to take criticism, leadership roles, and to roll up his sleeves when needed. Mrs. Adrian also said that Ivan was always willing to help others and had an attitude that we’re all in this together and the mentality of, “If one person doesn’t get this then none of us will.” Ivan wrote eight essays of various subjects for the Gates Millennium scholarship just like Kuwata, but Ivan will be going to the University of Pennsylvania (not Penn State) to earn a major in Microbiology.

That’ll conclude our Senior Spotlight for this issue but if you see Ivan or Alicia walking around then give them a high-five or a, “Good job” on their achievement. Oh and good job Alicia and Ivan, make sure to keep the good work to make CI look good.