Terrific Way to End the Year

   Senior Aleyna Alvarez received a full ride at UTEP through the Terry Scholarship which is offered at many schools throughout other nations. 

   The Terry scholarship offers a full ride, for many schools  you have to be invited to but for UTEP anyone can apply. It requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 and they pay for your tuition, room and board.

   “They'll give you a $5,000 stipend per semester so you don’t need a job as well as provide another $5,000 for study abroad. The Terry scholarship has been around for about 6 years over at UTEP and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago we got our first terry scholar and ever since then we’ve had one every year,” College and Career Readiness advisor Ms. Rodriguez said. 

   Along with receiving the Terry scholarship Alvarez has a lot more to offer. Aleyna is in the Top 10%, sixth in her class, and she received other scholarships too, including a UTEP Academic Scholarship and Greater El Paso All Star $2,000 scholarship. 

   “I’m of course so very proud of how far Aleyna has come. There are no words that can describe how I feel about each and every accomplishment that she has. I know that she's going to succeed in whatever she does. She deserves this and so much more so saying that I’m proud is an understatement. I am beyond blessed to be her mom,” Aleyna’s mom Lorena Garcia said.

   Alvarez is also part of the athletic trainers program, always showing her determination and never fails to accomplish anything she puts her mind to. 

   “Aleyna has always been an excellent student that does her work and goes out of her way to help others. I believe the Terry scholarship should go to a student that exemplifies being a good student in the classroom but also just a good person. Somebody that's honest and reliable. She doesn’t take no for an answer and can do anything, even if it is not in her realm of ability. Personally, I don’t think there's anybody more fit and deserving of the Terry scholarship as Aleyna is,” Athletic Trainer Jacob Waldecker said. 

   Alvarez wants to study kinesiology her first four years and has high hopes of getting a masters in athletic training. She also wants to be a part of the UTEP Athletic Training Apprenticeship which allows her to be an athletic trainer for any UTEP team.

   “The terry scholarship is made to seem like a very prestigious scholarship so to be able to  call myself a terry scholar was very surreal, it was crazy and took a lot of hard work and effort. It took a lot of late nights writing my essays and trying to be my authentic self. The hardest part was trying to not be someone else on paper. These people want to know who you genuinely are and how they can help you financially. The whole purpose of the foundation is to find Texas leaders and help finance their education because there's a struggle, especially in El Paso. My blood, sweat and tears are what got me here but also my past successes and future motivations,” Alvarez said.