Academy 4 awarded four high school seniors the Full Circle Scholarship. Nicole Padron, Elodia Perez, Josilin Pozos and Marilin Pozos each received a $2,000 scholarship. The soon-to-be graduates were eligible for the scholarship due to their participation as mentees when they were in fourth grade and service as mentors for two years during their junior and senior years.
Sisters Pozos and Pozos will graduate from Paschal High School on June 18 and Padron and Perez will graduate from Western Hills High School on June 20. They have served their communities well by mentoring fourth graders while navigating the challenges of academics and other commitments during a pandemic.
As part of their application, each scholarship recipient was required to include an essay response answering the question of how serving with Academy 4 will serve them well in the future. “The things you least expect are oftentimes, the things that impact your life the most. Academy 4 has definitely affected my life in many ways, back in fourth grade and now, again, in my years of high school,” said Marilin Pozos, a Full Circle Scholarship recipient. “My experience in this program will allow me to build bonds with my future patients and get them to interact with me while making them feel better physically and emotionally.” Pozos plans to pursue a career as a radiation therapist. With graduation fast approaching, each scholarship recipient is eager for the next steps in their academic careers. Nicole Padron will be attending Swarthmore College, Elodia Perez will be attending Boston College on a full-ride scholarship, Josilin Pozos will be attending Texas Women’s University and Marilin Pozos will be attending Tarrant County College.
“In the future I would like to be an Occupational therapist. Academy 4 has let me be a part of the fourth graders learning process for certain traits like listening, encouraging, and working together. Being able to help kids with these basic verbal and mental skills will help me in the future when I’m helping kids.” “Being an Academy 4 mentor has changed my life forever. It has been one of the biggest impacts in my life. My experience as an Academy 4 mentor will serve me in the future by helping me with the way I contribute to kids’ skill development, interaction with kids, and how to make relationships with kids that will help with their development in the future. This program has helped me so much, and it will help so many more in the future.”
