As I prepare to begin my college journey at The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunities ahead and determined to make the most of them. My name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez, and at 17 years old, I have learned that success is built through hard work, kindness, and a genuine desire to help others. Growing up, I always found joy in supporting the people around me, especially other kids my age. Whether it was helping a classmate understand a difficult assignment, encouraging someone who was struggling, or simply making sure no one felt left out, I discovered early that helping others gave me a sense of purpose. Those experiences shaped the person I am today and taught me that even small acts of kindness can make a lasting impact. Throughout my life, my family has instilled in me the values of responsibility, perseverance, and compassion. I have carried those values into every opportunity I've had, including working as a crew trainer at McDonalds, working construction with my dad, and even seeking for interviews for internships. These experiences have strengthened my work ethic, leadership skills, and ability to stay committed even when faced with challenges. Continuing my education, I plan to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering and afterwards land a job in the mechatronics field. I am fascinated by the combination of mechanical engineering, electronics, robotics, and computer technology. My dream is to design and build machines that improve patient care and make hospitals more efficient. Technology has the power to save many lives, reduce the workload on healthcare professionals, and improve recovery for countless patients. I want to be a part of creating robotic systems and automated medical equipment that allows doctors and nurses to provide better care while giving patients more comfort and hope during difficult times. I believe engineering is more than solving technical problems, it's about improving people's lives through innovation. Receiving this scholarship would help me focus on developing the knowledge and skills necessary to turn my goals into reality. Instead of worrying as much about the financial burden of college, I would be able to dedicate more time into my studies, research, and hands-on projects that will prepare me for my future career to make a meaningful difference. My name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez. I will be a 2030 Mechanical Engineering Graduate of UCCS. And I will make a difference. Winners and Finalists

As I prepare to begin my college journey at The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunities ahead and determined to make the most of them. My name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez, and at 17 years old, I have learned that success is built through hard work, kindness, and a genuine desire to help others. Growing up, I always found joy in supporting the people around me, especially other kids my age. Whether it was helping a classmate understand a difficult assignment, encouraging someone who was struggling, or simply making sure no one felt left out, I discovered early that helping others gave me a sense of purpose. Those experiences shaped the person I am today and taught me that even small acts of kindness can make a lasting impact. Throughout my life, my family has instilled in me the values of responsibility, perseverance, and compassion. I have carried those values into every opportunity I've had, including working as a crew trainer at McDonalds, working construction with my dad, and even seeking for interviews for internships. These experiences have strengthened my work ethic, leadership skills, and ability to stay committed even when faced with challenges. Continuing my education, I plan to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering and afterwards land a job in the mechatronics field. I am fascinated by the combination of mechanical engineering, electronics, robotics, and computer technology. My dream is to design and build machines that improve patient care and make hospitals more efficient. Technology has the power to save many lives, reduce the workload on healthcare professionals, and improve recovery for countless patients. I want to be a part of creating robotic systems and automated medical equipment that allows doctors and nurses to provide better care while giving patients more comfort and hope during difficult times. I believe engineering is more than solving technical problems, it's about improving people's lives through innovation. Receiving this scholarship would help me focus on developing the knowledge and skills necessary to turn my goals into reality. Instead of worrying as much about the financial burden of college, I would be able to dedicate more time into my studies, research, and hands-on projects that will prepare me for my future career to make a meaningful difference. My name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez. I will be a 2030 Mechanical Engineering Graduate of UCCS. And I will make a difference.

Hello my name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez and I'm an undergraduate student attending UCCS to major in Mechanical Engineering. I graduated High School this year May 2026 and am very eager to learn all that I can about not only my major, but how to navigate when things get tough and build strong connections that'll allow me to succeed in the future. I'm applying to this scholarship because my whole life has led up to this moment and I need to take advantage of everything as soon as possible including scholarships like these even if I don't end up winning. Ever since I was a little kid my parents told me how I always loved building things whether it was with Lego bricks, Linkoln Logs, or even mech motor kits from dollar tree. To this day my passion for learning and building new things grows every day. This summer instead of wasting time laying around doing nothing, I instead put in the work to advancing my knowledge with virtual building known as Auto CAD. I started my CAD journey on Fusion 360 as I already had a little experience with it in High School and thought it would help me better understand the features the app has to offer. So far, I've built tones of wheels with motion joints to allow them to spin around any axes that I want and not just sit in place. I love using different joints because it's what really brings projects like these to life. I've also done an engine with 4 pistons and a crankshaft that is by far my most favorite piece of work. This project also includes joints and boundaries that allow the piston heads to move up and down as the crankshaft is moving in a circular motion. Recently I applied for another automotive scholarship and put together a video showing both of these projects, if interested feel free to click this link to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPX9zhR602M&t=4s . Once I have enough money, I plan to get a 3d printer that'll allow me to print future projects that I will then put into a portfolio and use that in automotive internships. I believe that it will help me stand out from others and get me the internship itself. Last year I installed both a cold air intake and wheel spacers to make the stance on my 2014 Toyota Tacoma. I believe it's a good starter/project truck to learn new things with. In fact, just yesterday I started learning how to weld with my grandpa and I plan on using that new ability for new projects such as rusted areas on the truck or even exhaust work. As stated in my You-Tube video, I plan on getting as many automotive internships as possible to help with my future career. To wrap everything up, my name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez, and I will be a Mechanical Engineer Graduate of UCCS 2030. I'm very excited to learn every skill possible both in and outside of school and will use it to my advantage. Thank You for your time, God Bless.

I submitted via video response.

My name is Balentino Soto Gonzalez and I'm a first-year student at UCCS, proudly majoring in Mechanical Engineering. When it comes to school subjects I've never had as much interest in any other subject as I do in math. Math has taught me more than any subject I've learned in school and it's also what I've applied most to real-life scenarios. For instance, I've worked construction with my dad for almost 5 years now and not a day goes by where I'm not using math. Whether it's simply measuring/cutting pieces of 2x4 or calculating the angle at which I have to cut a piece of plywood to fit neatly alongside other pieces of plywood, I'll always love the satisfaction and hard work that comes out of it all. My personal favorite thing to do at work that involves math is framing a wall. Obviously, a blueprint gives you measurements for a wall. But there's always challenges that one faces when framing, that involves coming up with different ways to accomplish a project. An example of a challenge that one might face is the foundation of a house not 100% aligning with what's given on the blueprint thus, affecting where something might go. This is when one has to come up with ways around this challenge, while making sure everything aligns well in the end. Similarly, I once had to re-measure and cut a corner of a wall shorter than the normal height due to a support beam taking up more space than intended. The satisfaction of facing and beating challenges that are met along the way, and in the end admiring the finished product, is why I love math. I plan to major in Mechanical Engineering because I know I have what it takes to dominate in that field. As of January 2026, Ive been looking for technician internships at dealerships to start getting even more experience than I already have. I feel that companies in the future will admire the hard work I have put into my major even before starting college. I believe I deserve this scholarship because math will always be a part of me and who I am as a person.