Our first selection this year, Ximena Santillan, has received a full scholarship award and as a result, the Corwin Hardham Scholarship funds are now available to help another graduating Hood River Valley High School student, Andrea Lachino, to continue with her college education.
Andrea will be the first generation in her family that attends college, and as the child of Mexican immigrants who came to Hood River as orchard workers, she appreciates the opportunities that a college education will open up in her life.
One of Andrea’s teachers describes her as, “a self-starter and a persistent problem solver, with the time management skills, habits of mind and intellectual ability to be a true asset to her future college community.” Andrea is fascinated by the creativity that computer programming offers: “I was intrigued by the fact that coding could accomplish almost anything!” One of her favorite activities in computer science class was making interactive apps because she enjoys their creative nature.
In addition to excellent grades, Andrea has been a wonderful communicator and continues to put herself in leadership roles. She has been voted for by her class and then the whole school, to represent them as an elected position in Student Government for the past three years.
Andrea’s combination of coursework, extracurricular participation and work history shows her intentions and determination to attend college in order to create a better future for herself that will realize her parents’ dreams. The GTA was pleased to select her for the annual Corwin Hardham Memorial Scholarship to fuel her future at Oregon State University and majoring in Computer Science.
Read more about the GTA’s Corwin Hardham Memorial Scholarship here.