In today's world of technology and endless entertainment activities it is sometimes difficult to involve young people in human interest issues.
To further boost entrepreneurial and humanitarian leadership, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) recognized young people struggling day by day to make a positive change in their community or in their academic education.
On December 6, HHF granted a series of scholarships and financing for some project to 17 young people during the Los Angeles Regional Hispanic Youth Excellence Awards.
One of the winners was Michelle Fox-Romero who received a thousand dollars for her education with the Healthcare and Sciences bronze award. For the resident of the city of Chula Vista, one of the motivations to learn about science was knowing that her brother had been diagnosed with a medical condition.
Fox-Romero became involved in several psychology clubs at the school and continued to learn about science and eventually neuroscience.
"Then I participated in a neuroscience competition where I was one of the finalists," said the young woman of Mexican and Venezuelan roots.
Through his studies and research in neuroscience Romero discovered the conditions that can drastically and persistently affect the emotions, thoughts and behavior of the human being.
Last summer, the young woman participated in an internship at the Scripps Research Institute, where she learned more about computational biology and bioinformatics. There he developed a project that demonstrated the diversity of cell types in the human brain and how the presence of certain genes may be involved in different functional types of neurons.
The young woman said she felt extremely happy when she received notification that she had won a scholarship.
“I was very proud of myself and my family because this is part of the American dream and I want to show that with studies you can achieve several things,” said the young woman who plans to use the money for her university education.
Another winner was Tiberius Hernández whose parents are military veterans. With them he learned the importance of service above himself, and of what he calls "the divine purpose" to return something of what we have to other people.
"All my life, my parents instilled in me the courage to be relentless in my selfless service to others, to do everything possible to make my community and my nation a better place," said Hernandez, who has Mexican and German roots.
The Kern County resident in Bakersfield has been working on nature issues and has grown up in the Scout environment.
Inspired by the idea of how impressive the Scout Movement can be for its community and its members, it assumed several leadership positions, became the Main Leader of its Troop and even obtained a leadership position in the National Honor Society of the Scout Movement , placing him as the head of all members of the Order within Kern County.
The young man was selected by HHF as the winner of a $ 3,000 Community Service silver award which he intends to use for his university education.
"I want to attend a four-year university and then go to law school to be a military lawyer," said Hernandez.
In its 21st edition, the HHF educational scholarship program pays tribute to Latino high school students who excel both in their classroom and in the community and for their excellence in several categories, including: business and entrepreneurship, service community, education, health and science, media and entertainment.
Brenda Camarillo, program manager at HHF said the winners are selected based not only on their grades but also on their involvement in leadership, community and determination.
"We want them to have that initiative to start programs, businesses or projects," said Camarillo.
Camarillo said that apart from winning the scholarships, students will be advised by previous winners on their way to college through the HHF Latinos On Fast Track (LOFT) program.
The scholarship application opens in March 2020. To learn more about these scholarships visit: https://hispanicheritage.org/
