In pursuit of her dreams, senior Lizbeth De La Cruz received the Angels College Scholarship and a full ride to the University of Southern California, otherwise known as, USC. It was through her undeniable determination and passion that she was nominated by her teachers to receive this honor.
The Angels College Scholarship was created by the Angels Baseball Foundation, and is given to students that have proved their leadership qualities, ambition for a higher education, academic excellence, and if they are in financial need.
“Well I just hope this story becomes of some sort of motivation to someone, as I said I lost an opportunity, but there’s always more” said De La Cruz.
Throughout high school, she spent a half a year preparing her application for Questbridge, a non-profit that supports low income and high achieving students to attend some of the nations top colleges. When her colleague and former senior Rosa Hernandez was accepted into Questbridge and received a full ride to Princeton, she became even more inspired. However, unfortunately De La Cruz did not get accepted into Questbridge. Though, through this disappointment she found redirection and the determination to persevere and achieve her dreams.
“Everyone just told me it was just redirection and I just kept working harder and I was nominated for this opportunity” said De La Cruz.
De La Cruz was considered for this scholarship because she was nominated by her AVID teachers, and the final step was an interview process. She was well prepared after doing a mock interview with teacher Sra. Aguilar and from all the support from her peers.
During the interview, De La Cruz even made the interviewers emotional and brought tears to their eyes. Though she expected to hear back from them days later, her interviewers told her once they finished that she was officially part of the Angels family and had received the scholarship.
“Once the committee told me that I got it, my father and I just absolutely burst into tears. It meant the world to us because I had an opportunity again and I took it, and well here we are” said De La Cruz.
“It was something very unexpected, I might sound like I don’t have confidence but like I said, I lost an opportunity so I tried to give it my all again” said De La Cruz.
With USC being a private school and their tuition being especially demanding, De La Cruz is even more grateful that the scholarship will not only relieve stress for her family, but that it also allows her to keep pursuing her dreams.
When De La Cruz met with the owner of the Angels Baseball team, Arturo Moreno, he mentioned to her that they can provide her with a wide range of opportunities like internships or college expenses like tuition, meal plans, dorm supplies, housing, textbooks etc..
“Well for one, genuinely I’ve never owned my own computer, so being able to finally have that at a reach, it feels really nice because I was getting worried about that,” said De La Cruz.
At USC, De La Cruz plans to major in Human Biology to become a pediatrician. She finds it fascinating to learn how the human body functions and wants to dive further into her curiosity. She may also minor in child development since it will be beneficial to her as a pediatrician and she has already had experience with kids since she grew up taking care of her brother. Once she finishes her studies, she plans to take the MCAT and apply to USC’s medical school.
“And it’s really nice that they’re providing us with all these opportunities for the students like me who just want to fulfill their dreams,” said De La Cruz.
She has been in AVID for 7 years since middle school, and it has taught her one of her most valuable skills – self advocacy. Throughout her academic journey, De La Cruz described herself to be a shy student that struggled talking to her teachers and asking for help. When she entered high school, she realized this was a challenge she needed to overcome, and she didn’t do it alone. Her AVID teachers gave her their guidance and support; even at times when she felt hopeless, they were always there to offer a helping hand. They motivated her to ask questions and keep persevering through her academic challenges. This helped her understand the value of self advocacy, which she can now call one of her most prominent strengths.
“I still use it as motivation for today and thanks to AVID, I’m able to talk to all my teachers and share really close relationships,” said De La Cruz.
Behind the face of the scholarship, this achievement is deeply meaningful for her family and for herself. De La Cruz mentions that the education of many Hispanic families are cut short, and in her family she will be the first to graduate from a university. She does not only give herself credit for this achievement, but her mom as well who passed on to her the determination to graduate college.
“I’m also taking my moms dreams, because I’m doing something that she couldn’t do and I would be the first one of her family to ever graduate from a university,” said De La Cruz.
