Senior year has been a whirlwind for Clover Park High School (CPHS) seniors Yoel Alejandres-Aleman, Erik Camacho Reinoso and Kloe Salazar. Amid the hustle and bustle of senior projects, send-offs and game nights, they also completed the rigorous Act Six Scholarship process and earned full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
Camacho Reinoso and Salazar will attend Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) and Alejandres-Aleman will attend Saint Martin’s University (SMU).
Act Six is a leadership and scholarship program that brings together diverse, multicultural cadres of young people who want to use their college education to make a difference on campus and in their communities. Each year, roughly 1,000 students apply for this prestigious scholarship that is awarded to 25 candidates.
Throughout the selection process, students were placed into groups and given questions to discuss and debate. It was a high-pressure environment meant to identify student leaders. It could be an intimidating process for some, but Alejandres-Aleman, Camacho Reinoso and Salazar shined amongst their peers.
“The first step was the easiest one, but it got more and more difficult during the group panel process because there were less students as they narrowed us down,” Alejandres-Aleman said.
In addition to group discussions, students also submitted essays, read articles and participated in interviews. Many students, including Alejandres-Aleman, were asked about their motivation and drive to succeed. “I told them about my mom,” he said. “I shared how she was my biggest motivation and did so much for me, so I want to do big things for her.”
The students feel accomplished in earning their scholarship, and their families are unimaginably proud of their star students. Camacho Reinoso’s family has been swaying between tears and cheers since hearing the exciting news.
“I put my fears to the side and decided to apply for this scholarship to inspire others,” he said. “I want to show people that they can just be themselves and achieve something like this no matter their circumstances. I am proud to show my younger siblings that, even though English isn’t our first language, and we are the first generation of our family to go to college, they can do it just like me.”
Camacho Reinoso plans to become an advocate of equity and change at PLU before returning home to give back to his local community. After experiencing the importance of physical therapy due to a gym-related injury, Alejandres-Aleman plans to study exercise science at SMU to become a physical therapist. Salazar will study nursing at PLU to pursue her dream of becoming a labor and delivery nurse.
“I’ve done a lot of research about black infant mortality rates through my Running Start classes, and it’s my goal to help with that however I can in the future,” Salazar said.
Congratulations to these three young people. We usually read about young people when they get in trouble, and not often enough about responsible hard-working students.