San Gorgonio High School graduate Jacquelyn Figueroa was awarded The Gates Scholarhship this spring and enrolled in La Sierra University's pre-nursing program beginning this September.

Of comfort zones

When Figueroa joined the AVID program class during her high school senior year, she could not have anticipated where it would lead. The class, part of the nationwide Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID program, encourages students to apply for scholarships, assists with their applications for federal aid and provides counseling toward helping seniors make the transition into higher education and the achievement of a life-enhancing college degree.

Figueroa's AVID counselor Barkley enhanced the scholarship application process by using a Google Classroom app and loading it with scholarships for his students to consider. "He would go above and beyond to help us," Figueroa said.

"That [Gates Scholarship] was one of the very first I did," she said. The three-phase scholarship application process began in the fall with a general questionnaire, transcripts request and other basic information and proceeded through personal recommendation evaluations, coursework and activities, resume and updated test score submissions as well as four essays, and lastly an in-person interview.

In March, Figueroa received an email from someone involved in the nation-wide scholarship selection process who informed her that she was a finalist. The interview would be the next and final step and took place a few days later. Figueroa was confronted with in-depth questions based in part on the essays she had submitted with her application.

"Me talking to a person is plain out scary. It's just terrifying for someone who doesn't speak much or is as extroverted as others. However, with this scholarship and what was waiting on the other side of the finish line, I had to get out of my comfort zone," she said. The interview included a reference to an essay question that asked what Figueroa might discuss if she had a chance to give a speech before the United States Congress. "I wrote about diversity, how we all need to be equally treated and we should emphasize making others equal instead of pushing others away," she said.

Following the interview, Figueroa waited a month for the results of her application. The email arrived on April 20 at 5 p.m.

"The scholarship process has helped me in many ways," Figueroa says. "It's made me a stronger person in a sense that I clearly know what my path is. It's made me open my eyes to my strengths and weaknesses, and how I can improve on them. It also made me realize that with this scholarship, money isn't the only thing you receive."

Following the Gates Scholar announcement, Figueroa and 750 others from around the world traveled to Arizona for an in-person summer institute. "In this institute we were able to network and create new friends who were on the same path as us, or who were going to the same school as others. The institute also gave us lessons on how to navigate college," Figueroa said.

Criteria for college scholarships often require strong grades and community outreach activities. The Gates Scholarship applicants must have a minimum cumulative 3.3 GPA and ideally show leadership through participation in extracurricular or community service.

In addition to achieving top grades in high school, Figueroa played all four high school years on San Gorgonio's soccer team and pursued community outreach through the Key Club, a service organization in which high school students perform volunteer work around their school campus and in the community. Figueroa also became a club officer for a local chapter for MEChA, a student movement that dates to the 1960s and which promotes Chicano culture, unity and empowerment. And she became involved in a club called Servitas that was started by one of her soccer coaches and whose members engage in volunteer work with local churches.

Figueroa applied for a number of scholarships and in the end she received four awards including The Gates Scholarship. About $8,000 total in scholarships was also received from the Making Hope Happen Foundation in San Bernardino, from the Beaver Medical Clinic Foundation in Redlands, and from the AVID program. As a last-dollar scholarship, the Gates award amount is determined after total costs and other aid is considered.

"I was so worried I wasn't going to get anything," she said.

La Sierra connection

Figueroa first learned about La Sierra University through her former soccer coach who also coached for the university and who encouraged her to attend La Sierra when it came time for college. "He always used to tell me about La Sierra and how it's a really good school," Figueroa said. "I started looking into it and then I realized that [La Sierra] was also sister schools with Loma Linda [University], and Loma Linda is where I was born. I've always desired to work there one day. I believe that La Sierra has an amazing pre-nursing program and so if I can get here, then I can get to where I want to be."

Figueroa grew up in the Catholic faith tradition and the opportunity to attend a faith-based school also appealed to her as it represented an opportunity to strengthen her spiritual values.

"I'm very excited. I'm waiting for September to roll around," she said during an August interview.

Reach for the sky

Figueroa has an older sister and two younger sisters. The eldest sister attends Cal State, San Bernardino and is also studying pre-nursing. Figueroa's interest in caring for others was sparked during her childhood when as the second oldest daughter she was able to care for her younger sisters after they were born. She formed strong bonds with them and also enjoyed caring for her younger cousins and the young siblings of her soccer teammates. "That's what really started making me want to go into nursing," she said.

Her parents, who have also been a strong influence and foundation, expressed pride in her achievements.

"I can't believe it, I'm walking in the sky," said her father, Israel Figueroa. "I'm so proud of her. It's a dream come true."

"I'm supporting her and the job that she has done to make this happen, to get the scholarship, that she got to get into the school that she wants," said her mother, Maricarmen.

Added Israel, "I've been telling her all the time, the sky is the limit so you can go wherever you want. She's so smart she can do whatever she wants."

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