聚焦系列:泰勒庞塞

2018年12月7日

公共关系

帕洛阿尔托学院's annual scholarship fundraiser, ¡Una Nueva Celebración!, 筹得超过$1,000,000 in committed funds to directly support students, 教师, 员工继续接受教育. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) gave five full-ride scholarships (tuition, 房间, board) for 帕洛阿尔托学院 students to attend UTRGV upon completing their associate degrees. Taylor Ponce was selected as one of the scholarship recipients.

La Vernia High School graduate Taylor Ponce chose to attend 帕洛阿尔托学院 because there was a lot of diversity on campus, her experience over the last couple of years has made her feel at home and opened doors to new opportunities.

“我喜欢这里,”庞塞说. "What matters is if I really like it; if I'm comfortable with my professors and everything. I've had several professors [at 帕洛阿尔托学院] that I've really enjoyed and gotten a whole bunch out of the classes that they taught."

Planning to graduate with her associate degree in May 2019, Ponce knew she wanted to attend a university and complete a bachelor's degree, but she didn't know where she would take that next step. 她决定参加一个UTRGV信息会议, where she learned about their vibrant campus culture and academics. She was selected on-the-spot as one of five students to receive a full-ride scholarship.

“那天早上我醒来的时候, I did not think that I was going to get a full-ride scholarship to UTRGV,庞塞说. “这是令人惊异的. I never thought that I would be a full-ride student. I didn't think that I could get a full-ride after two years at a community college."

Ponce says the hardest part of moving away to continue her education will be leaving her family behind. She has a 关闭 relationship with her parents and three younger sisters, but the opportunity will help push herself outside of her comfort zone.

"I'm a little nervous, a little upset that I'm leaving everybody behind,庞塞说. "I have to be the one to do something so that they know they can also do it too... 我是我三个妹妹的榜样."

除了成为一个榜样, 庞塞的动力也来自她的父母, who just recently completed college degrees of their own. Though they had started college years ago, they stopped to work and provide for their family.

"When you go to work and you're earning a paycheck, 你不会想放弃的,庞塞说, adding that her parents have always taught the value of education to their daughters. "I want to go, get it done with, not have to worry about it. 他们真的是我的灵感来源."

虽然她一直在家里得到支持, Ponce wasn't sure how she was going to afford a bachelor's degree. She always hoped she could get her associate and bachelor's degrees without having to take out loans, but Ponce said she figured she would probably have to once she started at a university—even if she lived at home and attended a four-year college in 圣安东尼奥. 获得UTRGV全额奖学金, she is excited for all of the learning that will come with living on her own for the first time.

"I'm not used to living on campus and doing everything for myself... It's going to be an amazing experience,庞塞说.

UTRGV承诺815美元,000 in total to support the five full-ride UTRGV scholarships for graduating PAC students – 艾伦Galindo泰勒·庞塞, 艾米丽·哈蒙乔纳森•吉恩Gabino Olalde –  while also committing 150 scholarships for employees to use toward their master's and doctoral degrees from UTRGV, 资助五名研究助理, 再加25美元,000 donation to the general PAC Scholarship Fund to support students currently attending 帕洛阿尔托学院.

通过有价值的伙伴关系提供资金, 比如UTRGV, provides scholarships to help 帕洛阿尔托学院 students attain their educational goals. The 阿拉莫大学 Foundation facilitates over 40 scholarship opportunities, which students attending 帕洛阿尔托学院 or anywhere in the 澳门新葡京博彩区 can apply for with a single application. The 2019 scholarship application will open on Jan. 7, 2019. 欲了解更多信息,请访问 阿拉莫.edu/pac/scholarships.