The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Robert Scheer

High Strung: Sunnyvale Middle School graduate Rocky Rodriguez is covered in silly string after last week's graduation.

Golf tournament pays for four scholarships

By Natasha Collins

Good grades, community service and the ability to overcome obstacles are what four Sunnyvale Service and Athletic Scholarship winners had in common.

Andrea Baumgardner of Homestead High School and Fremont High School students Hugo Lopez, Starlyne Meza and Vi Hang each received $1,500 to help pay for their college education.

Baumgardner, who hopes to become a microbiologist, plans to use the money to help pay her tuition at UC-Berkeley.

"My dad is a single parent with a low income," Baumgardner said. "We are already trying to put my sister through [UC-San Diego]. This money will help make ends meet."

While volunteering at Stanford Hospital, Baumgardner had an opportunity to work with critically ill children.

"I would much rather help them than watch them get sick," she said. "I want to help improve their situation or help them get better."

Writing is what Meza will be studying at UC-Berkeley next year. Meza is the first in her family to go to college and aspires to be a journalist when she graduates.

"I hope to work for a magazine one day," Meza said. "I really enjoy feature writing."

Meza worked on the school paper, but it wasn't until recently that she decided to go into mass communications.

"I originally thought about going into business," she said. "But I really liked working on the paper and decided that writing is what I wanted to do."

While working more than 40 hours a week, Lopez managed to maintain a grade-point average close to 4.0. Lopez is the first in his family to go to college, and he worked in order to support his family.

"I plan to study business and economics because I want to be my own boss and own my own business some-day," Lopez said. "It has always been my dream to own my own business."

Lopez will attend UC-Santa Barbara in the fall.

Hang, who was unavailable for comment because he was on a trip to Hawai`i, was captain of the wrestling team and class president during both his junior and senior year. Originally from Cambodia, Hang maintained a grade-point average above 4.0 and will attend Stanford University next year.

The four recipients were chosen from among 26 applicants, said Tim Farley, a member of the Sunnyvale Service and Athletic Club.

"It was a very difficult process," Farley said. "We would have given scholarships to all the applicants if we had enough money. We gave it to the people that could use it the most."

The Sunnyvale Service and Athletic Club, a nonprofit service club that supports education, raises the money for the scholarships by holding an annual golf tournament in Sunnyvale.

"The more money we raise, the more we have to give," said Dick Bocks, a member of the club. "Next year we hope to be able to give more."

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 25, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.