Felicidades and Thank You!

The GCSA is proud to announce our first ever upper class scholarship recipients: Brenda Garcia and Alejandro Gonzalez. Both Brenda and Alejandro play pivotal roles in the comunidad at Georgetown.

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Alejandro Gonzalez
SFS '12, Miami, FL
Born in the small town of Güira de Melena, Cuba, Alejandro came to the United States with his parents in 1997. Living in Miami allowed him to grow up enjoying the beauty of American culture while also developing a strong passion for his raices cubanas. This same passion has motivated Alejandro to be deeply involved in spreading awareness of Cuba to the outside world. Alejandro led the Cuban-American Student Association at Georgetown and organized a trip to the island with students and faculty. Alejandro is equally passionate about making quality education accessible to immigrant families. He has created and taught the Citizenship and Naturalization class for the DC Schools Project at Georgetown and is involved in spreading awareness about the DREAM Act on and off campus. Alejandro is currently a junior majoring in International Politics in the SFS and plans to work in Latin America upon graduation. His favorite thing about Georgetown is the strong bonds of friendship he has with people from all over the world. He loves to spend time with family and friends, try new kinds of food, and dance latin music.

Brenda Garcia
SFS '11, McAllen, TX
Brenda Garcia is currently a Senior at Georgetown University and comes from McAllen, Texas. She is majoring in International Politics with a certificate in Women's and Gender Studies. While at Georgetown, Brenda has been thoroughly invested in the Latino community serving as the treasurer of M.E.Ch.A. and spearheading the 2009 East Coast Chicano Student Forum Conference: "Narcocultura: Drug-trafficking and its Effects on Latino Communities." She is a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Fellow and recently interned with the Democratic consulting firm, Molly Allen Associates, working for multiple congressional campaigns. She recently got accepted into Teach For America and will be teaching secondary math in Philadelphia next year!

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Our selection process this cycle was, as expected, tough! The GCSA Selection Committee dedicated many hours to reviewing all 17 scholarship applications and had the difficult task of selecting two applicants from a stellar applicant pool. We appreciate all the hard work of Gloria Gasca ('03), Jose Barragan ('04), Berenice De La Parra ('97), Maria Moser ('04), Christina Estrada ('09) and Octavio Gonzalez ('06). Mil gracias!

Coming up next - another round of scholarships for first year and upper class students to come for spring 2011. Keep a look out for application materials.

Another important update - fundraising! We are currently raising scholarship funds for 2011 and we need your help! Consider making a small donation to the GCSA to keep supporting students like Brenda and Alejandro. To donate online, click on the "Donate" PayPal button on the top right hand side of our blog, or mail a check made out to the Georgetown Comunidad Scholarship Association to P.O. Box 3531, Redwood City, CA 94064. We hope we can count on your support!

Meet Aya and Jesus, the Fall 2010 Comunidad Scholars...

Aya Waller-Bey
Detroit, Michigan
Aya Waller-Bey is a first-year student at Georgetown University. Aya hails from Detroit, Michigan where she attended Renaissance High School and was heavily involved in various leadership-formation activities, including the LEDA Scholars program at Princeton University and the New Detroit Camp Enterprise. Aya is a proud Detroiter and is passionate about returning to her home community: “The images of Detroit portrayed in the media have only served as fuel for me. While the world sees a light bulb whose light is beginning to dim… I see a light radiating now more than ever... I feel that I not only have a responsibility to bring about awareness to the issues troubling the cities, but also to be fully committed to… a community that others have written off as a failure.” With the unconditional support of her family, Aya became the first person in her family to pursue higher education and plans to pursue a major in sociology in Georgetown College.

Jesus Burboa

San Diego, California

Jesus Burboa is the first in his family to go to college and comes to Georgetown from San Diego, California. As a high school student, Jesus co-founded a nonprofit organization by the name of The Common Thread and hosted a conference for first-generation college goers on the campus of University of California, San Diego. At Georgetown, Jesus is a freshman representative to GU Financial Literacy, which helps inform students on issues of money management, dances in Ritmo y Sabor, the GU Latin dance ensemble, and is a GU Peer Counselor. Jesus believes “community is familia. It is the thread that ties in hundreds of people that have endured the same experiences, sacrifices; but most of all, a group of people who love each other.” Jesus credits his success to the work ethic he learned from his father, who took on two jobs to support Jesus and his family: “As a teenager, I worked alongside my dad, cleaning the mirrors in bathrooms as he mopped the floor… [His] love has inspired me to reach my greatest achievements and to never give up.”

Fall 2010 Recipients Selected!

A big congratulations to Jesus Burboa and Aya Waller-Bey, our fall 2010 scholarship recipients! Photos and biographies of Jesus and Aya are coming soon.

Selecting two recipients was a tall order for the members of the Selection Committee. An impressive group of applicants submitted materials. Our Selection Committee spent hours thoughtfully reviewing the applications and selecting our two recipients. A big gracias to: Gloria Gasca ('03), Octavio Gonzalez ('06), Berenice De La Parra ('97), Christina Estrada ('09), Maria Moser ('04), and Jose Barragan ('04). I'm thankful to them for donating their time and expertise to the Selection Committee.

Thanks to our generous donors, we've opened up our scholarship opportunities to upper class students. Applications will be released shortly.

First year students also have another opportunity this year for scholarships - be on the look out for the spring 2011 scholarship application!

Applications are in!

Fresh off of our scholarship deadline, we're proud to share that we received 19 applications for the fall scholarship cycle! This is an increase in applications from the same time last year.

Our Selection Committee is hard at work reviewing the talents and accomplishments of the first-year students who applied. It's going to be tough selecting two recipients from such a polished group of students, but our Selection Committee is up for the challenge. Be on the look out for updates soon!

Hoya Saxa!

Reunión y Despedida 2010... ¡Gracias!

A great big thank you to the parents, undergrads, incoming students who came out to Reunión y Despedida 2010! The event was a huge success and a lot of fun. It was great seeing old friends and meeting the incoming students. In a particularly special way, it was great to see parents (including my own!) who came out to support the students getting ready to start the fall semester on the Hilltop. Check out pictures of the event on Facebook and look out for a recap of the event on this blog pretty soon.

Carnitas (with a Vegetarian Option) and Good Company...

RSVPs for the first Reunión y Despedida happening in Los Angeles this Saturday, August 14. have been rolling in from near and far (alumni from Chicago, San Francisco and San Diego have RSVPed!) and we are excited for the contingent of alumni (young and old) and undergraduate students (just young) who have emailed us to say they are coming. So what can you expect at Reunión y Despedida? To start, we can promise some good, home-cooked food. This is a family-friendly event. Family members of the alumni on the organizing committee are making a great spread (both vegetarian and otherwise). Next, we can promise great company. I can guarantee this because I've seen the RSVP list. We've got 30+ awesome Hoyas attending. If you're an undergraduate, you'll have an opportunity to meet some fellow classmates you may never have met before. If you're starting your first semester on The Hilltop, this is your chance to begin plugging into the comunidad you can expect to meet on campus. Of course, this event wouldn't be possible without the donations made by alumni who are attending (hint, hint). If you haven't RSVPed, do so now by emailing georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com. If you've already RSVPed, I'll see you on Saturday!

Almost Here!

We’re only a few weeks away from our first Reunión y Despedida, happening on Saturday, August 14 at the home of our friends Scott Thomas and Liz Raposo in Los Angeles. We’ve been pretty excited to read the RSVPs of undergraduates and incoming students who are gearing up for their first semester on the Hilltop and old friends who are going to travel to Los Angeles for this special event.

If you are an alumnus/a and thinking of coming, make sure you RSVP by making a small donation to cover the costs of the event and offset the cost for undergrads and parents who attend. We suggest a $25 donation, but any donation in any amount is welcome and gets you in. If you are an alumnus/a who cannot attend, I encourage you to make your presence felt by making a donation to GCSA scholarships at the top right-hand corner of this page! There is no stronger statement to make to our undergraduate comunidad than the support of those who came before them!

Some of you may be wondering what Reunión y Despedida is all about. Well, to start, many alumni have been looking for a good occasion to gather. I think celebrating one year of GCSA scholarships is pretty good occasion, right? Despedida will also be an important opportunity for undergraduates and incoming students and their families to meet alumni, faculty and staff community. Finally, Reunión y Despedida will be the first gathering of its kind: a gathering of all members of the Georgetown comunidad: alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff coming.

So….RSVP!! If you are an alumnus/a, make your suggested donation by clicking on the “Donate” button in the above right-hand corner of this page. If you are an incoming student or current student, simply email georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com to RSVP and indicate how many people will be attending with you. This will be a family-friendly event.

RSVP TO REUNIÓN Y DESPEDIDA

It's coming! We're excited to host the first Reunión y Despedida in the Greater Los Angeles area. This is an opportunity for Georgetown's comunidad - alumni/ae, current students, incoming students, parents and administrators - to meet for the first time, catch up with old friends, provide invaluable advice to incoming and returning students and also send off the students to Georgetown with cariño. There will be food, beverages and buena compañía. Don't miss it! All donations cover the costs associated with hosting this event and benefit the Georgetown Comunidad Scholarship Association, an organization dedicated to supporting higher education through scholarship grants and more.

REUNIÓN Y DESPEDIDA
Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 4 p.m.

Alumni/ae Requested Donation: $25
Donations are currently being accepted via PayPal: click here or "Donate" on the right-hand side of this blog
--If you don't have a PayPal account, scroll down to "Don't have a PayPal account?" on the left-hand side and click "Continue."

Current and Incoming Students: There is no charge for you to attend the event, however we ask that you please email georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com to RSVP for the event and indicate how many people will be attending in your party. Please RSVP by August 9, 2010.

Reunión y Despedida

It's been close to a year since the Georgetown Comunidad Scholarship Association got off the ground. In that time, with your unwavering support and encouragement, we surpassed our initial modest goal of awarding one scholarship to a deserving Georgetown undergraduate and instead awarded four scholarships in the 2009-2010 school year. Mayra Jaimes, Rachel Hochstetler, Carlos Mercado, and Jennifer Osei, received GCSA scholarships this past academic year. We are excited to encourage and support a new generation of Hoyas in their pursuit of higher education.

But the GCSA is more than just an organization that gives out scholarship money. From its inception, we wanted the GCSA to support students by making them aware of a wonderful community of successful alumni who are supportive of their goals for higher education. We want students to know that there is a whole comunidad of alumni cheering them on. To that end, we want to bring together undergraduates, admitted students and their parents, alumni and even faculty and staff—all of whom make up the comunidad—for an event in Los Angeles that we are calling Reunión y Despedida. For alumni, this will be an opportunity to see old friends and meet the undergraduates. For the undergraduates, this will be an opportunity to mingle with alumni who may share an academic or professional interest, and perhaps can offer some words of advice and encouragement. This will also be an opportunity to bid farewell to the admitted students who are about to embark on their first year at Georgetown. So please save the date of August 14, 2010 and join us for Reunión y Despedida in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Felicidades to the GU Class of 2010!

Congratulations to the students, parents and families of the Georgetown University Class of 2010! Wherever you are and wherever you may be going, always remember that as alumni, you will always be a part of the Georgetown comunidad! Hoya Saxa!

Café Con Hoyas A Success!

A big thank you to all the members of the GU comunidad who came out to support the first ever Café Con Hoyas in Los Angeles, California on April 28! We had an impressive turnout of alumni spanning many years! We also want to thank the incoming Hoyas and and their parents who attended and experienced a bit of the Georgetown comunidad before arriving on the Hilltop! Stay tuned for more Comunidad Scholarship Association events this summer!

Café Con Hoyas on Wednesday, April 28, 2010!

The Georgetown Comunidad Scholarship Association and the Undergraduate Admissions Multicultural Recruitment Committee are honored to invite admitted students and their parents to attend a mixer with Georgetown University Latino/a alumni of the Greater Los Angeles Area at the home of Alex Chacon (COL’98). Come chat with alumni over café y pan dulce and learn more about the Georgetown comunidad! If you are an alumnus in Los Angeles, stop by to chat with old friends and future members of the Georgetown comunidad! We will be gathering in the home of Alex Chacon (COL ’98) at 7:00PM on Wednesday, April 28. Click here for a map to Alex’s place. RSVP by emailing georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com! Nos vemos on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00PM!

GCSA is proud to announce…

…our Spring 2010 scholarship recipients!

Carlos C. Mercado

Compton, California

Carlos is a freshman at Georgetown University from Compton, California. He comes to the Hilltop with extensive work experience and a focus in finance and entrepreneurship. Carlos graduated from Verbum Dei High School with numerous distinctions and quickly settled in at Georgetown by participating in the Georgetown University Student Investment Fund. Through his bold initiative and what Carlos calls “vital relationships,” he secured an internship with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Despite his busy schedule, Carlos still found time to give back by tutoring students at a D.C. area high school that is part of Verbum Dei’s network. Carlos “found this community experience enriching, serving as a role model for younger students.”

Jennifer A. Osei

Buffalo, New York

Jennifer is a freshman and comes to Georgetown from Buffalo, New York. In her home state, Jennifer was actively involved in her community through participation in Town of Amherst Youth Court, where she was an advocate for local youth in the juvenile justice system. Consistent with her desire to pursue a profession in the medical field, Jennifer volunteered at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where she interacted with patients and observed medical professionals in action. On the Hilltop, Jennifer continued that commitment to comunidad early on through her involvement with First Year Orientation for Community Involvement (FOCI). Feeling more than a sense of gratification when volunteering, Jennifer believes the following: “I have contributed significantly to my community in my past and will continue to contribute to my comunidad here at Georgetown in my future, as I deeply understand how it feels to be helped by someone; therefore I will continue helping others as they have helped me.”

We would like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to this semester’s Selection Committee: Scott Thomas ('98), Joseph Saucedo ('00), Vicente Garcia ('05), Hugo Tzec ('02), Mark Murphy ('06), Tanya Olmos ('07) and Luis Torres ('05). The Committee had the difficult task of reading outstanding application materials, interviewing stellar applicants and making final recipient decisions.

Applications are in!

Thank you to all the students who submitted applications for the GCSA Spring 2010 scholarship! A committee of alumni volunteers is evaluating each application and we will be announcing the two recipients on Monday, March 8. Stay tuned for the results!

Scholarship Application Deadline Coming Soon!

We've received many emails from Georgetown freshmen requesting applications and information on the Spring 2010 GCSA Scholarship. We can't wait to review students' application materials! If you are a freshman at Georgetown University and are thinking of applying, remember that the scholarship deadline will be upon us very soon! All applications with accompanying materials need to be submitted electronically to georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com by Monday, February 22, 2010 at 9:00PM ET. If you have any questions, shoot us an email. Good luck to all those students applying and stay tuned for the results!

New Semester, New Round of Scholarships...

The Spring 2010 semester is in full swing at Georgetown and we are pleased to announce that we will be accepting applications for two more Georgetown Comunidad Scholarships for the Spring 2010 semester! Applicants must demonstrate financial need, show a commitment to the Georgetown community and be a member of the Class of 2013. Applications are due on February 22 by 9PM ET and we will announce the spring 2010 scholarship recipients on March 8, 2010. Applications are available by emailing georgetown.comunidad@gmail.com. Previous applicants are encouraged to apply again! Good luck and Hoya Saxa!