Four EPISD seniors earned the prestigious Terry Scholarship to attend the University of Texas at El Paso this fall on a full ride.
The recipients are: Ana Lucia Garcia from El Paso High; Yesenia Juarez-Vargas from Silva Health Magnet; and Carlos Carrete and Ania Fierro from Jefferson High. The four seniors are among 10 UTEP Terry Scholars in the county.
“The Terry Scholarship is a prestigious award for which many compete, and a few are selected to bear the title of UTEP Terry Scholar,” said Manuel Castruita. “This full ride scholarship provides students with access to a quality education and also relief from the worry of college expenses.”
The Terry Scholarship was established by the Terry Foundation. Its founders – Howard and Nancy Terry – believed in the pillars of scholarship, leadership, service and community.
The scholarship gives students an opportunity to accomplish their dreams without financial worries. For Fierro, it means her dream of becoming an astronaut is one step closer to reality.
“At UTEP, I will major in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering,” Fierro said. “After hopefully attending graduate school, I plan on working for NASA or SpaceX and become an astronaut. If everything goes right, a Miner will be the next to walk on the moon.”
All recipients echoed a similar tone of gratefulness and honor for their selection as a Terry Scholar.
“Earning a Terry Scholarship exemplifies the strong effort I have put into my work over the last four years of high school,” said Garcia, who plans to study music education. “It is a reward for every time I pushed through my trials and tribulations. Most significantly, earning a Terry Scholarship reveals to me that others see the potential in the path I want to take.”
Juarez-Vargas is proud of becoming a Terry Scholar and the education it affords her in her pursuit of becoming a pharmacist.
“Receiving this scholarship means that I have succeeded,” said Juarez-Vargas. “The Terry Foundation saw my potential and how much I could do to represent them, and this beautiful community that we live in. This scholarship is just the beginning of what is to come. It means that I will be able to work to give my parents back what they gave to me, and more. The hard work I have done leading to this point in my life has paid off, but it doesn’t stop here.”
Carrete plans to study electrical and computer engineering, with an ultimate goal of advancing technology prosthetics to improve the lives of those facing amputations.
“Engineering has always been my passion,” he said. “The complicated workings of machinery and the functionality of small things such as smart phones have always intrigued me. I have always wanted to study this subject in the efforts of constructing tools that allow humanity to prosper.”
