Several San Diego students received full-ride scholarships to Ivy League Schools through a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive college admission support.
The students are participants of First Gen Scholars, which assisted 160 students in San Diego, and an additional 20 nationwide.
“Even with the challenges of the pandemic, we were able to help these students – the first in their families to go to college – navigate the application process and pursue valuable scholarship opportunities,” said Jonathan Burgos, executive director and founder, First Gen Scholars. “Most of our work was done virtually, and we are extremely proud that our Scholars are getting into the most selective colleges in the country, while also helping remove that barrier of being able to pay for college.”
The organization supports low-income high school students who would be the first in their families to attend college.
Scholarship recipient Armesa Aklog, A San Diego High School Senior, will attend Harvard University in the fall. She joined the First Gen Scholars-Black Cohort.
According to Burgos, Arsema has great reverence for her Ethiopian heritage and community, teaching herself to transcribe the Amharic language to help the elders in the local community understand what was happening during the pandemic.
Arsema serves as a co-leader of the First Gen Scholars program supporting the San Diego High First Gen Class of 2023.
Victoria Ruiz is another First Gen Scholars participant and full-ride scholarship recipient who is valedictorian and a varsity athlete in swimming and water polo at Montgomery High School. She will be studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics at Dartmouth College.
Ruiz is also the first QuestBridge College Match recipient at her school, according to Burgos. She is a Mexican immigrant raised by a single parent, and she has recently helped to establish a First Gen Club at Montgomery, which started with more than 30 students.
Zi Nava Chen, a student at San Diego High School, will be attending Brown University and was also awarded an opportunity to study abroad this summer in Spain. Zi’s father is Chicano and his mother is Chinese. He speaks fluent Spanish and utilizes his skill sets to tutor other students in Spanish, according to Burgos.
The nonprofit organization began with 26 students in one high school, expanding the following year to serve 78 students in 13 high schools, and this year has supported 180 students in 41 different schools.
First Gen Scholars says they are still recruiting for the class of 2023 program. The application is on their website.