A young boy named Joshua Alvarado whose mother worked extra hours to pay his school fees has won a scholarship to study at any university of his choice in the United States.
Joshua Alvarado is a California teen and a senior at South Gate High School. He applied for the Edison International College Scholarship with the hope of lifting his mother’s burden.
Joshua was raised by a single parent after he lost his father at a very young age. Ever since then, His mother, Irene Rodriguez has been the one struggling by working extra hours to take care of him and his four other siblings.
Edison International, a utility company that sponsors South California kids to the university surprised Joshua with the 50,000 dollars college scholarship at the South Gate High School career day.Â
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Joshua’s mother and siblings were present to witness the award presentation which was a surprise for them too making it a tearful moment for them.
“The first thing I saw was I saw he had the check. I said, ‘oh my God yes.’ I can’t believe it. I knew he had applied for it. But when one sees its real, I felt a lot of emotions,” Irene Rodriguez said.
Joshua said losing his father at a young age was a very challenging moment for his family as the father was their family breadwinner. He added that since then, his mother took it upon herself to work hard and be the household’s source of income so they could all focus on their studies.
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“He always wanted me to push myself academically. To reach higher. He’d tell me to focus in school. Do your studies. Become something. And just to be able to tell him, I did it dad,” he said.
Edison International said they just increased their scholarships to $50,000, and Joshua was one of the 30 students across Southern California who benefited from it. They added that the scholarship will allow these students to pursue their careers in science, math, technology, and engineering (STEM).
“Joshua is a representative of our well-deserving scholars, mostly from underrepresented communities. We want to give him the tools to continue to pursue STEM in college,” a spokesperson of Edison International, Diane Castro said.
He mentioned that he will attend Stanford University, United States to study Mechanical Engineering with the hope of working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) later someday.
Joshua said he wants to work for NASA to expand people’s understanding of the universe. He plans to return to his community and other disadvantaged communities to encourage his peers and future generations to pursue higher education.
”I plan to return to South Gate High School and other low-income communities to inspire and invest in a new generation of Latinx engineers through scholarships, STEM programs, and mentorship. The path to success is real and achievable for us all,” he said.
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