Rodger Williams can’t wait to go home and tell his mom about earning a scholarship from the Lake Highlands Women’s League, but he doesn’t really expect her to be surprised.
“I think she knows that I’m a bright young man and I work hard,” said the LHHS senior and running back on the Wildcat football team. “My mom supports me 100%.”
When Head Counselor, Pam Mitchell, called him out of class this morning, he admits he was confused.
“I didn’t know what was going on at first. I was anxious to see what it was.”
“I know you’re all wondering why you’re here,” Scholarship Committee Chairman Paula Davis told the assembled students. “I’m happy to tell you that you’ve been selected to receive one of our 33 scholarships.”
“I felt electrified,” said Rodger, who’ll attend either Oklahoma State or OU. “I’m very fortunate.”
“It means a lot to me,” said LaSchastia Stegall. “For one thing, I’ll be the first in my family to go to college. It proves I can do anything.”
“In your interviews with us,” Paula said to the seniors, “the one thing that you all said over and over about your class is that you felt like a family, you felt like your teachers cared about you, and you felt like your fellow students cared about you. That was very encouraging to those like me, whose children graduated from here a while back, and it was very encouraging to people like [LHWL committee member] Amy Moselely, whose children haven’t even gotten here. It’s also encouraging today to stand here and look at the walls of honor, that many of our children or siblings or friends are on, and to see the future here in you.”
Rodger said his mom has been an inspiration to him.
“Even though she’s a single parent, she plays both mom and dad. She works hard, ever since I was little, and she does whatever she has to do to keep a roof our both our heads. I think I take a lot from her and what she has to go through.”
Her message to him has been simple: “Stay focused on the things that matter. Stay focused on your main goals. Get your job done.”
“I could not be prouder of these kids,” said Principal Peggy Dillon. “They inspire my staff every day.”
“Being on the committee made me realize again the uniqueness of Lake Highlands,” said Julie Jodie, herself an LHHS grad in 1983. “We interviewed students from very different backgrounds, but they all emphasized how Lake Highlands as a school and a community has been important in helping them achieve their goals and motivating them to be successful. Meeting them made me feel so positive about our community and the young people here.”
“Serving on the Education Committee has been the best part of being in the LHWL so far,” agreed Susan Brooks. “Seeing the students this morning and their excitement when they learned they had been awarded scholarships really brings home the main reason why we want to invest in the LH community – because these awesome kids are our future. I’m so proud of these outstanding young men and women, and I can’t wait to see how successful they’ll be in college.”
Outstanding recipients of 2013 LHWL scholarships are: Damanta Adhikari, Samuel Agabi, Jose Barbosa, Brian Boos, Katie Bott, Makayla Burnham, Keshanda Carraby, Erika Carrillo, Salha Faki, Lucina Garcia, Tha Hnem, Stella HrangLung, Cynthia Ibarra, Gennesis Jimenez, Bhupendra Karki, Reginald Marshall, Jr., Theresa Mendoza, Misha Montfort-Mills, Adam Morrissey, Kelsey Munoz, Diep Ngo, Laura Leigh Oualline, Mason Puckett, Sharon Sequera, LaSchastia Stegall, Hunter Stephan, Olivia Tawi, Wayne Taylor, Natalie Von Sternberg, Madison Wieters, Hannah Willard, Rodger Williams and Ebenether Wondaferew.
Congratulations all!
