Vales Por Dos Scholarship Winners
Burqueños for Education and Empowerment (BEE) is excited to announce the two recipients of BEE’s 2018 Vale Por Dos Bilingual Nursing Scholarship to Abigail Velásquez and Aaliyah Garcia.
Currently Abigail has recently accepted a position of Nurse Extern at UNM Hospital where she is certain she will “gain even more valuable experiences and help shape me into a skilled and professional nurse.” Upon being notified of her selection for the scholarship, Abigail said, “I was elated with gratitude to know that my talents, skills, and hard work were being recognized and rewarded. It is such a great honor to be a recipient of this first scholarship! Estoy agradecida de ser parte de una comunidad que conoce la importancia del español en nuestras carreras y en la sociedad.”
As all college students know, financial aid is only a partial savior to reaching academic goals, and Abigail is all to aware of this harsh reality, especially in a nursing program that requires year-round classes. “Most financial aid sources do not cover the summer semester and summer classes are required during nursing school. This scholarship will help cover a significant portion of unpaid tuition and alleviate some of my financial stress.” With the help of this scholarship that will “alleviate some of my financial stress,” said Abigail, she will now be able to “better serve humanity by becoming the best possible nurse by lending more focus on my studies and volunteering in my community.”
Success in academics, career, and life are not achievable without the support of others and Abigail has many to thank for her success thus far.
First and foremost I thank God, for blessing me and guiding me in the direction of my destiny. I thank my mom for her support in reaching my goals and her trust in me that I will always live by the morals and values she has instilled in me, regardless of where life takes me. I also want to thank my niece, Noelani, for being my motivation to continue living to her standards of heroism. She has set her eyes on me and looks up to me as her hero, I am inspired to keep pushing despite the obstacles that may come my way. She is a constant reminder that I am a role model and failure is not an option. She reminds me that my example to her will become her standards in life.
The other scholarship recipient, Aaliyah Garcia, was equally excited upon hearing of her scholarship selection saying, “It feels very honoring to receive this scholarship. I have been an active member in my community from Hagerman, New Mexico and it was from that community that I noticed the need for Spanish in the healthcare system. I was extremely happy and blessed when I opened the letter congratulating me about the award.” Like Abigail, Aaliyah understand the importance and difficulties in paying for a higher education and acknowledging the burden tuition can be. “It has not always been easy for me to pay for my education, bills, or daily necessities. However, it is scholarship like this that will help me continue to pursue my education.”
As we all know, any type of personal success can only happen with the support of those close to us. “would like to thank my family for keeping me grounded, my boyfriend for constantly supporting me in every way, my friends in Nursing school who push me to achieve more, and finally to the El Centro program at UNM for reminding me who I am and reconnecting me back to my culture and roots.”
Join us in congratulating these two exceptional young women!