ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — Sixteen students from Arvin High School received a surprise this week when they found out they are getting full scholarships to the University of California, Merced.
The full-ride scholarships will cover tuition, housing, and meals for the students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. The students are set to start at UC Merced in late August.
Erick Santiago Rosalez is the first in his family to go to college. He said his family was worried about how they could afford his education.
"They were initially going to help me fund it, but we don't have that much. So it was going to be difficult. And I was going to have to probably work a lot of jobs while in university, but this is definitely, like, a big stress off my back," Rosalez said.
Rosalez is already looking at ways to give back to his community.
"I will go to a grad school and get a degree in clinical psychology where I will become a psychologist and I kind of want to focus on youth mental health," Rosalez said.
Maria Garcia is also the first in her family to attend a four-year university. Her parents work in the fields, and paying for college was always a concern for them. Garcia said the sacrifice her parents made is paying off.
"I feel like the whole point of my parents coming here was to give us a better future. And I think when I found the news, I had found out the news of getting into Merced with a full ride. It was very, it felt very accomplishing. I felt like the risks and the troubles my parents went through was being recognized," Garcia said.
Over the summers, Cindy Arellano Corrales worked in the grape fields with her parents. She said the experience was a motivation for her to continue her education.
"I think it's definitely just shown me why my parents tell me to continue that education and get what they couldn't So I'm like, knowing that I have these opportunities, I definitely should do I definitely should take them and do it for them," Corrales said.
Arvin High School Principal Gabriel Ramirez-Leyva said he understands what this news means for families who live in Arvin, Lamont, and Weedpatch.
"Sending their kids to college is not impossible, but sometimes it seems that way because they always wonder, 'how am I going to pay for that? How many loans am I gonna have to take?' Letting them know that that here are these full rides or kids are going to not have to pay for anything when it comes to attending you seem said with the scholarship. So really a huge relief for the parents a lot of financial support here," Ramirez-Leyva said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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