2026 Scholarship Recipients

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It is definitely very helpful. It will help me pay for college.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My mom has inspired me the most. She is in the same career that I'm interested in pursuing.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Sports and how the human body works. I do a lot of weightlifting and running.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Virginia Tech

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: Exercise science to become an athletic trainer.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Sometimes a door closing is not the end, it can open more doors to help you achieve your life goals.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It means a lot. I had a medical condition and my parents had to spend a lot of money on medical bills. The scholarship means I can support myself and they don’t have to spend more money on me.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My aunt. My family is from Singapore originally before we moved to Virginia. She really helped the family be able to move to the U.S. I trust her and am inspired by her.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Knowing how to invest, manage money, understand the companies that are big in investing.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: University of Virginia.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I want to major in Public Policy with the goal of becoming a lawyer.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Diversify who you talk to, spend time with, and are friends with. You are made up of the people you surround yourself with. Different perspectives are really powerful, and you can learn so many different things as opposed to staying in your own community. Branch out, try new things.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It means that I can help pay for college and knowing that my hard work has paid off.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My whole family in general. They’ve all done so much.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Helping others.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Christopher Newport University.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: Double major in marketing and communications.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Take things slow. There is so much going on. Stay positive.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It means a lot to help towards school. It will go towards community college, as I cannot afford a cosigner.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My aunt, who has done so much for me.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: My job and my grades. I'm passionate about keeping straight A's and working towards my career goals.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Central Virginia Community College

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I plan to study business.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Focus on school. An education will open so many opportunities for you.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It’s so special because it helps me pressure my education goals.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My dad who passed away; he was a doctor. I saw how he was treated by his doctors and how he treated his patients. I saw how he treated every patient with a human touch in every aspect of his care.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I love to volunteer!

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: University of Virginia.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I'm torn between biology and kinesiology. I want to be a Physician Assistant or something in the medical field.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Find things you enjoy doing, put effort into that, find a way to help others through your passions, and find your best way to be happy with your life.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It's one step towards my dream of being a college educated, well-informed person.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My parents inspired me to always try to be the best version of myself through the challenges they’ve overcome. I want to make them proud.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Helping people and helping them become the best version of themselves. Helping people overcome challenges and achieve thier dreams.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: I'm undecided, it's between George Mason University and the University of Virginia.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I'll major in psychology. I want to be a clinical psychologist.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Always trust yourself. Sometimes, when going through adversity, it’s easy to lose confidence. Trust in yourself and that you have the knowledge and skills to overcome the challenge. It helps you in that moment and in the future when facing other challenges.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: My family moved to the US in 2024. My parents cannot provide a lot towards school so this scholarship will help me pay for school.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My parents have inspired me in my life. They have always tried so hard for my siblings and me. However, I feel responsible for them and want to motivate my young siblings.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I'm passionate about pursuing nursing in college. I have always been involved in my mother’s doctor's appointments and, through internships, have seen how important it is to help people. I’ve seen how helping people can make such a big impact on their lives.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: I've been accepted to George Mason, but I'm waiting to hear back from the University of Virginia.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: Nursing.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Never give up no matter how many difficulties. Try to use those challenges to grow and inspire others. Giving up is never the way. Challenges shouldn’t be something that stops you from chasing your dreams.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It means being one step closer to finance my education. It is a big part of my college app process, as affording college is crucial step of getting in the position that I wants to get to post-graduation.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: Both of my parents have been really big inspirations. My mother is a teacher, and my father is a police officer. They work hard. People skills are really important in both of their roles. The way that they handle tough situations really inspires me when I face challenges.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I want to be a scientific journalist. I want to study research advancement and climate change. As a scientistic journalist, I want to help educate the public. I want to make research digestible and understandable to everyone.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Princeton.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I want to major in English with a minor in Journalism.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Balance. I've had my fair share of challenges, and the ways I've gone about getting through those issues was finding balance between directly tackling the problems and taking time to take care of myself.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: To have someone investing in my success means the world. I hope to invest and uplift others in the same way

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My mom, she supports African American small business owners in Richmond. She always taught me to look out for my community.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I’m Vice President of the Black Student Union at my high school. We have a meeting every Thursday and have speakers on different topics or trainings like resume writing. We have about 50 members attending every Thursday and I’m proud of the community we’ve built.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Spellman College

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I want to major in Political Science and go to law school. I want to help people who have been incarcerated to re-enter society.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Take up space! If you don’t think you 100% belong, tell yourself that you do. You belong in every room you enter, and you should proudly take up that space.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: For a long time, I didn’t realize that I would have a future, let alone the future I wanted. Being able to receive this scholarship makes it so I have one less stressor in my future, and I can get my life in the direction I want it to go.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My aunt and uncle have been biggest inspiration for me to to achieve goals and get what I want in life. My uncle is one of the most responsible, hard-working people I know, the rock of our family. He keeps our family going. My aunt is one of the strongest women I know. The fact that she gets up every single day and chooses to still be happy, still be there for us as a family even though she went through her own struggles really inspires me.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Helping others. I enjoy knowing that I worked my hardest to help someone else out. Even if it’s something small like opening the door for a stranger or smiling at someone who seems like they are having a bad day. It inspires me to continue to be kind. I know when others are kind to me, those small acts mean so much.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Christopher Newport University.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I’m going to major in biology. There is a dual partnership with Riverside Hospital that I will do as well. I plan to go into nursing.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Just don’t give up. It’s rung true in my life where there were so many times I thought I couldn’t keep going. You get to a point where you will look back at those moments and all the hard work you put in, and it will be worth it.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It will help me get a better college education. My parents don’t have a huge amount of resources to help me.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: No one person in particular. A lot of people influenced and inspired me.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I want to help our country. It's one of the reasons I'm going to college.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Patrick Henry College.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: My major will be in strategic intelligence, and I want to work in an intelligence agency.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Push through it. Sometimes that’s all you can do. It never hurts to ask for help.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: The only person working in my family right now is my mom. I have had to work while in school; so the scholarship would help a lot financially.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My mom and dad. We moved to US in 2022 and they worked really hard to make the move happen.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I'm passionate about education and playing soccer.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Blue Ridge Community College.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I'll major in nursing and that is my career goal.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Take your time, manage your time well. Focus on school.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: It is a reflection of all the hard work I've done in high school. It will help me to pay for college.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My mom was very adamant about getting her degree. She was a single parent, so college helped keep our family afloat. She sacrificed a lot to give me these opportunities, and I won’t let that go to waste.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: The health field, specifically getting my EMT certification.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: I'm currently deciding between Notre Dame and William & Mary.

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I'm going to major in accounting with the goal of becoming a CPA.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Having a goal in mind and realizing there are steps in between getting to the goal and where you are currently.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: I've applied to many scholarships, so this is the best possible thing to happen to me. It's a dream come true, and I'm so beyond grateful.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My grandparents are my favorite people in the world. They are my role models, and I want to have the life they have. They’ve impacted my life. They have five kids, they were stationed 17 times during military service, and every time something happened they worked through it. Their resilience rubbed off on me, and showed me how determined they were to keep fighting even when it is hard.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I really want to be a nurse practioner, specifically a geriatric nurse practioner. I admire my grandparents lifestyle. Unfortunately, there are people who cannot provide for their elders, and sometimes elders pass away by themselves. I have a sweet spot for the elderly. I wants to work in hospice to be with the people who don’t have people who can provide for them.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: James Madison University

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: I want to major in nursing and I want to be a travel nurse for a couple of years. I want to work in the University of Virginia hospital like my mom and to get my Master's while working there.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: From the bottom of the heart: it is never too late to change. I am living proof of that, having been through a dark point in my life. If I went back in time and told myself that I would be going to college and getting a scholarship, I wouldn’t believe it. Even though it takes a lot to change, you will be who you want to be.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?
A: More than financial support, it represents recognition of my hard work, dedication, and potential.

Q: Is there someone in your life that has inspired you to achieve your goals?
A: My great grandmother is my all time inspiration. She is the one who has always believed in me and guided me towards my goals.

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: The ability to help others gives me purpose in life. It has always been very meaningful for me.

Q: Do you know where you’ll be going to school in the Fall?
A: Virgnia Commonwealth University

Q: Have you decided on a major? If so, do you have any specific career plans?
A: Pre-radiation sciences. I would like to be a radiation therapist or an ultrasound technician.

Q: What advice would you give younger students facing their own challenges?
A: Do not let your circumstances define you. You are bigger than where you come from or what you are going through.