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Angelina Vazquez

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Finalist

Bio

My name is Angelina Vazquez, and I am the first-generation college student in my family. I am currently a senior at San Marcos High School. I am currently in the EMT program at my high school and was previously in the CNA and the phlebotomy program, where I passed both the state exams and got a CNA license as well as my phlebotomy license. I am also set to take the EMT state exam in the summer of 2026. I am also in the school clubs, including HOSA and TAFE, and was previously in JSA/CLA. I am a HOSA officer at the moment, and I am responsible for social media and making posts. In the HOSA program I am also going to compete in phlebotomy. In the TAFE program, I completed a group presentation on cerebral palsy and how we can make a better classroom for students with it. I was previously on the San Marcos High School Cheer Team my freshman, sophomore, and junior years of high school—1 year JV and 2 years varsity. With this team I was able to do much volunteer work, such as helping elementary schools with fundraisers, cheer camp for elementary kids, city parades, and gift wrapping for families of low income during Christmas. In my free time, I work, and I have been working since freshman year, in February 2023, at a restaurant called Hat Creek. I worked as a cashier for a year until February of 2024. I am now currently working at Reebok as a sales associate and have been there since April of 2024. I am planning to attend college and go into the medical field to become a nurse and help as many people as I possibly can.

Education

San Marcos High School

High School
2022 - 2026

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Hospital & Health Care

    • Dream career goals:

      Sports

      Cheerleading

      Varsity
      2022 – 20253 years
      Brian Moore Memorial Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Maria's Legacy: Alicia's Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Overcoming Adversity - Jack Terry Memorial Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Scorenavigator Financial Literacy Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Philippe Forton Scholarship
      I have always felt a need to help others in any way I can, so I felt joining the health care programs in my school would be the perfect opportunity to help others and to help me determine my future path in life. In this program, we spend a month and a half at the nursing home to complete the required hours for taking the CNA state exam. When I first started going to the nursing home, I was really scared and intimidated. I was worried about making mistakes. I started to question if this career path was for me. As the first week at the nursing home passed, my classmates and I began to notice that the CNA in charge frequently left us to take breaks, leaving us to handle all the work. I would often see CNAs neglect patients and not fully clean them after they had gone to the bathroom in their brief. I would also see CNAs ignore call lights at times, which made me really sad and left me with the question in my head, "How could anyone ever treat another human being like this?" My classmates and I would always try to respond to call lights when we saw them in order to assist the patients. Patients in nursing homes often need help to do a lot of their daily activities, such as going to the bathroom, feeding, showering, changing, and even getting out of bed every day. Anytime a patient asked me for help, I could never even think about denying them that help, so it was crazy for me to see that they could ever even go ignored by anyone, especially someone whose job is to take care of them. It had officially been a whole month and a half that I spent going to the nursing home, and it made me get a glimpse of the medical field firsthand. After seeing how some people get into the medical field for the wrong reasons, it really made me reflect on society's humanity. After seeing how elderly patients often go neglected by healthcare workers and how others can treat people in need, it really made me change my perspective on their humanity. I started to doubt people and started to notice how some people truly lack humanity. I always see the best in people, but after getting just a small glimpse of the medical field and how not everyone is there for the right reasons, I completely changed my perspective on others. It made me realize how naive I really was to the world and made me want to make a difference in the medical field. This encouraged me to continue doing health care my senior year and join EMT to further my path in making this difference in the world and continue to grow and learn from the new experiences that will come my way, but now from a less naive point of view of people and a drive in me to make a difference in this society's humanity.
      Sammy Ochoa Memorial Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Gomez Family Legacy Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. I should be considered for this scholarship because I know the value of money and I won't let it go to waste. I will put it all towards my education. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and to take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work everyday except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work but I never get mad because I know he's doing it for us. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school. I want to be the best version of myself for me and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. With this scholarship I can focus more on school since I will be more financially stable.
      Siv Anderson Memorial Scholarship for Education in Healthcare
      I am committed to go into the health field and becoming a nurse. I have always felt a need to help others in any way I can, so I felt joining the health care programs in my school would be the perfect opportunity to help others and to help me determine my future path in life. In this program, we spend a month at the nursing home to complete the required hours for taking the CNA state exam. When I first started going to the nursing home, I was really scared and intimidated. I was worried about making mistakes. I started to question if this career path was for me. As the first week at the nursing home passed, my classmates and I began to notice that the CNA in charge frequently left us to take breaks, leaving us to handle all the work. I would often see CNAs neglect patients and not fully clean them after they had gone to the bathroom in their brief. I would also see CNAs ignore call lights at times, which made me really sad and left me with the question in my head, "How could anyone ever treat another human being like this?" My classmates and I would always try to respond to call lights when we saw them in order to assist the patients. Patients in nursing homes often need help to do a lot of their daily activities, such as going to the bathroom, feeding, showering, changing, and even getting out of bed every day. Anytime a patient asked me for help, I could never even think about denying them that help, so it was crazy for me to see that they could ever even go ignored by anyone, especially someone whose job is to take care of them. It had officially been a whole month and a half that I spent going to the nursing home, and it made me get a glimpse of the medical field firsthand. After seeing how some people get into the medical field for the wrong reasons, it really made me reflect on society's humanity. After seeing how elderly patients often go neglected by healthcare workers and how others can treat people in need, it really made me change my perspective on their humanity. I started to doubt people and started to notice how some people truly lack humanity. I always see the best in people, but after getting just a small glimpse of the medical field and how not everyone is there for the right reasons, I completely changed my perspective on others. It made me realize how naive I really was to the world and made me want to make a difference in the medical field. This encouraged me to continue doing health care my senior year and join EMT to further my path in making this difference in the world and continue to grow and learn from the new experiences that will come my way, but now from a less naive point of view of people and a drive in me to make a difference in this society's humanity.
      Be A Vanessa Scholarship
      As a first-generation college student in my family, I am committed to making a meaningful contribution to the world and the medical field. My journey in healthcare has already begun, and I am eager to build on the foundation I have established. I have completed both Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and phlebotomy courses, successfully passing the state exams. These experiences have provided me with hands-on skills and a better understanding of patient care. While working in a nursing home, I gained experience in patient interactions and learned to handle challenging situations with professionalism. The phlebotomy program required me to perform 30 successful blood draws, which will help me when it comes to administering as a nurse. Additionally, I took anatomy and physiology during high school, which has helped me gain a solid understanding of the human body. I am also currently in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at my high school and will take the state exam in the summer of 2026. I am very passionate about the opportunity to further my education in college. Making my family proud as a first-generation college student whose parents often get judged based on skin color and accent. My dad was deported when my brother had just been born, leaving my mom alone in the United States with a newborn for 6 months. My dad was thankfully able to get his papers and return, but during those 6 months my mother was left struggling to pay the bills, work full time, and take care of my brother. She struggled to have food on the table for both of them for those 6 months. Once my dad returned, he started working right away and has been for the past 22 years. My dad goes to work every day except for Sundays to be able to give us the life he never had. My dad often misses our school events because of work, but I never get mad because I know it's because of work. This has caused distance in our relationship since he's never home, but I won't ever hold a grudge against him because I know he wants to see me and my siblings achieve everything we ever wanted without the worries of money and just to have the simple focus of school.  I want to be the best version of myself for myself and for my parents, who have gone through everything to be able to give us the opportunities they never had.
      Lexi Nicole Olvera Memorial Scholarship
      Becoming a nurse is something I deeply aspire to be, but what began it all was the passing of my grandpa. In 2020 my grandpa fell sick and was put in the hospital in California. My grandpa at times would stay with us in Texas or would go to California with my aunts. While he was in California, he fell ill and was put in the hospital. While he was at the hospital, my dad would constantly get calls from his sisters complaining about the nurses and how they were rude and would often neglect my grandpa and ignore him when he needed help. I was very young, so I didn't understand much of what was happening. All I knew was how much of a toll this had on my dad. I had never seen my dad cry, but this really broke him. The doctors said my grandpa's condition wasn't the best, and we should prepare for the worst. My mom booked the earliest flight for my dad to get on. His flight was set for seven pm, and he landed in California around nine pm. My dad's sisters were there to pick him up, and they headed to the hospital right away. As soon as my dad got there, my grandpa put a smile on his face and a tear rolled down his cheek, and he passed. My grandpa was just holding on to be able to say his last goodbye to my dad. Five years have passed since his death, and my family continues to be angered and disappointed by the mistreatment my grandpa endured at the hands of nurses. This deeply angers me because why would you become a nurse, who is meant to help people, just to treat your patients rudely and let them go ignored? I experienced this again later on in my life by doing my hours for CNA at the nursing home, where many CNAs would often ignore call lights and leave us as students on our own while they went on break. Patients in nursing homes often need help to do a lot of their daily activities, such as going to the bathroom, feeding, showering, changing, and even getting out of bed every day. Anytime a patient asked me for help, I could never even think about denying them that help, so it was crazy for me to see that they could ever even go ignored by anyone, especially someone whose job is to take care of them. This has really pushed me to go into the medical field with the right intentions and not just for the money but because I would never want to make another family feel what my family felt.