A clearly overwhelmed Viviana Alcazar broke into tears as administrators, students and television camera crews streamed into her history class yesterday to give the Mexican native the surprise news she won a scholarship that will open the doors to a four-year university.
Now the Canada College salutatorian - who came to the United States just four years ago - will get to go to Mills College in Oakland to study literature. Despite her short time in the country, Alcazar managed to earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average at the community college. In the meantime, Alcazar also worked two jobs and helped support her family.
It was a suiting place for college President Rosa Perez to announce the news - during a mid-day women's history class.
"These are the type of things that need to be in our history books," Perez said. "Viviana is a strong fighter and a humble soul."
Advisor Lisa Palmer was also crying as she joined the celebration.
"I can't even talk," she said.
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Just days ago, Palmer said Alcazar seemed down about not being able to afford her first-choice school - Mills College in Oakland. Alcazar said she didn't think her chances were too good at beating out the thousands of candidates who applied for the scholarship money, but applied anyway.
"My philosophy about scholarships is that you have to apply because you never know," she said.
Alcazar is one of 27 students nationally to receive the scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
The winners - selected from thousands of nominees - come from 17 states and eight foreign countries including Estonia, Togo and Haiti. This is the first year the foundation has accepted nominees only from community and two-year colleges.
The news is especially remarkable since such scholarships for community college transfers to four-year universities are rare, Perez said.
Advisor Paul Roscelli, who helped with the scholarship application, said Alcazar also spearheads a number of community events. Among her recent activities, Alcazar helped organize a series of presentations on health care access, raised money for children with cancer and organized a letter-writing campaign for troops overseas.
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