My name is Kenny Lucero, a graduating high school student from Bridgeton, New Jersey. One incident of helping someone in need comes to mind: my Senior prom. You see, I'm into cars. The college I was accepted to is a trade school, and I'm pushing to be an auto mechanic. My friends know all about my passion, my after-school job as a mechanic for Go Karts, and my dream about owning an auto shop with my younger brother. So when their car broke down on the night of Senior prom, they didn't call a tow truck, because there was alcohol in the car, they called me. I wasn't there because I'd suspected they'd be drinking, and even if driving isn't involved, alcohol is particularly destructive. My friends don't even pressure me to partake anymore. We'll hang out, but I'm not the partying type. Anyway, I arrived on the scene, and they're pulled over on the side of the road. The car that one of my friend's borrowed from their parents was smoking. The engine was HOT. One of the girls was throwing up on the side of the road. It was a mess. I got to work. I made sure my friends were standing away from the car, and shut the car off. Yes, amazingly, they didn't think to shut the car off. Even with the hood open, smoke was pouring out. I let the engine cool off for a few minutes, to the point where I could at least see what was going on. I lucked out, because the culprit was easily visible. There was a detached radiator hose, which meant the engine wasn't getting coolant. There was a rusted or corroded screw clamp attached to it, which is probably how it fell off. After the engine cooled more, I was able to drive to a gas station, purchase some more coolant, give them a refill, and rig the radiator hose back in place. Then, because it wasn't hypothetically, I knew they were drunk, I left their car there and drove them back to the house where they were going in mine. This was one example, chosen because it both made me feel great, and also because it highlights my passion for cars. Realistically, when I help people, it's not in big grand gestures. It's in the little things. When my church does a community outreach event, usually a soup kitchen or sometimes sitting with the elderly in the local old-age home, I volunteer. There's usually only three or four of those per year, but it's good karma to give back. I've thought about how I could "pay it forward" if I received this scholarship. My younger brother also shares my dream, and I’d teach him what I could until he can enroll in a similar program. That is, if he can keep himself off of video games! Once our dream materializes and we own our own “Two Brothers Auto Shop”, we could accept apprentices or work with local trade schools. The prom incident, a "you're a hero" type of event, is very rare. Realistically, I can help people by being kind, patient, and improving my skillset so I am able to better help people when the those kind of emergency situations come up.

Hello, my name is Kenny Lucero, and thank you for taking the time to listen to why I’m the right student to receive this year’s First-Gen Futures Scholarship. My family is hard working, but even trade school would be the furthest traditional education for my family. My family is supportive, but that support is moral. There's a continual voice telling me, not that I'm not good enough, but that it won't be enough, that people like me aren't meant for college or trade school. To fight that voice, I am focused on becoming an auto mechanic and not letting anything discourage me from continuing my dream, which has been my dream since 2009. That’s when my uncle took me to see an f1 race for the very first time, and that’s when I saw them: as the f1 cars drove into the pit spot, the pit crew. Their hands were moving so swiftly. I was blown away by the way they worked. It was like magic. I wanted to be a mechanic ever since. I've prepared for trade school by getting a job as a mechanic, only not with cars. For over a year, I've worked on Go Karts at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. For the Go Karts, I swap out the tires, change their oil, and even work on their engines. It's not a one-to-one translation of Karts to cars, but my uncle told me that sometimes if you want to work in an industry, you get any job you can in that industry and start working as hard as you can. It won't be a lack of ambition that slows me down, it would be a lack of opportunity. Two hundred dollars for textbooks might not mean a lot to every student. For me, that's a very real challenge. My younger brother also shares my dream, and it would mean a lot to him to see that, yes, our family can continue our education, we can make our dreams a reality. Ideally, he continues his own quest, and eventually, we'd own our own “Two Loco's Auto Shop.” Once there, we can pay it forward by accepting apprentices or work with local trade schools to help kids like me who love cars and have big dreams, but could use some help along the way. Thank you for the opportunity to become the first college-bound member of my family.