2013 Scholars (Left to Right - Rachelle Hampton, Morvarid Mehdizadeh, Danielle Miguel, Jan Kelsey Ballesteros)
Rachelle Hampton Rachelle grew up in East Oakland and will be the first person in her family to attend college.She has maintained a 4.0 GPA while raising her two young children and working as a Biology Department tutor.Being a mother as well as volunteering as a doula at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center has greatly influenced Rachelle’s decision to pursue a career in healthcare.Rachelle will be transferring from Diablo Valley College to Samuel Merritt University to obtain a degree in nursing.
Morvarid Mehdizadeh Morvarid is a Pinole Valley High School Senior who is passionate about biology, psychology, policy debate and Middle East studies.She was on the Varsity debate team, assisted in the research of epidemiology of lymphoid malignancies and started a UNICEF club at her school.She is interested in going to medical school and is headed to UC Berkeley.
Danielle Miguel Danielle is the salutatorian of Richmond High School.As the first person in her family to attend college, Danielle is excited to become a Golden Bear and attend college at her top choice, UC Berkeley.Danielle will be on a pre-med track and also study economics or ethnic studies with aspirations of becoming a neonatal physician.
Jan Kelsey Ballesteros Jan moved to the United States three years ago from the Philippines. While she was living in the Philippines, a typhoon flooded her city and the building she was in leaving her family homeless for a while. This experience caused her to want to study engineering to ensure that there are no faulty roads or bridges that collapse.Jan will be transferring from Los Medanos College to be Civil Engineering major at UC Davis.