Helping Center awards Learn for Life scholarships
Amy Najera (left), Mariela Suarez, and Jasper Meza each received $2,000 scholarships from The Helping Center's Learn for Life program. Each student was chosen based on merit, performance, reputation, and stated goals for the future. Courtesy photo
Three Highland Lakes students received Learn for Life scholarships from The Helping Center in Marble Falls. Jasper Meza of Marble Falls, Amy Najera of Granite Shoals, and Mariela Suarez of Burnet will each receive $2,000 to further their education.
The Helping Center food pantry devised the Learn for Life program in its expanded mission to support education in the Highland Lakes.
“The Helping Center is thrilled to be able to sponsor and assist with giving educational opportunities to these strong young students,” said Barbara King, a center volunteer and Learn for Life program coordinator.
Meza will start his freshman year this fall at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering. His goal is to design products that seem impossible to us now.
“I want to push our understanding of the world around us to new heights,” he said in his scholarship application.
Najera plans to major in psychology at San Angelo State University with a focus on marriage and family counseling. As an employee of The Boys & Girls Club, she has seen the hardships that children experience in volatile family environments. She plans on working to prevent childhood trauma, stating as her goal: “To try my absolute best to prevent that from happening to any child.”
Suarez has been attending Central Texas College and plans to transfer to Texas State University in San Marcos to complete a bachelor’s degree in business. She hopes to have a career that she loves while being able to give back to and support the people in her community. A professor of Suarez’s described her as “one of the most focused and dedicated students that I’ve ever had.”
“Everyone we selected, we feel like they’re going to make a real difference in the world,” King said.
To learn more about the Learn for Life program and future scholarship opportunities, visit The Helping Center, 1016 Broadway in Marble Falls, or the organization’s website.