Mission Valley students selected for Gates Scholarship
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Around the Mission Valley, students have been checking the mailbox, keeping an eye out for a packet from the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.
Four area students got the nod and are part of the 2012 cohort of scholars: Mitchell Rose Bear Don’t Walk, St. Ignatius High School; Audrey Finley, Two Eagle River High School; Tyler Krell, Polson High School; and Logan Lefler, Arlee High School.
The students’ parents probably are excited, too, since the prestigious program pays for an undergraduate college education in any discipline the student chooses.
When Bear Don’t Walk, 17, found out about winning the GMS she said, “I’m pretty sure I cried for 15 minutes. Everything was on the line.”
Although she’d applied for other scholarships, Bear Don’t Walk said being chosen for a GMS made everything so much easier.
“It is just such a wonderful opportunity for me, and I’m so thankful for this. My family has worked really hard their whole lives ... Now I don’t have to worry about my family having to pay or taking out student loans,” Bear Don’t Walk said.
She will attend Yale University in the fall and plans to study environmental science or something biology related and “otherwise explore the majors that Yale offers.”
Bear Don’t Walk said she had known since she was a freshman that she would be eligible to apply for the GMS. Her family, especially her mom, encouraged her to apply.
“She always knew that it was an opportunity for me that I couldn’t pass up,” Bear Don’t Walk said.
Bear Don’t Walk agreed with the other GMS scholars that the hardest part of the application was the eight essays. Each essay had a 7,800 character maximum, about three or four pages, and Bear Don’t Walk said she really had to put a lot of thought into each question.
In high school, her favorite subjects were English and biology. Since St. Ignatius is a smaller school, there was opportunity for lots of field work in advanced biology, such as a week-long trip to Utah to study geological formations.
She loved cross-country running, enjoyed volleyball and participated in FCCLA and did lots of community service, such as heading drives for pet food for the Mission Valley Animal Shelter.
“My mom cried more than I did,” Audrey Finley, 17, said.
Proud grandmother Georgi Mitchell said when Tricia and Audrey called her to tell her the news, she started crying, too. Encouraged by “everybody, my mom, my grandma, my family, the staff, Judi Gibbs (TERS counselor),” Finley applied for the GMS because it pays for a four-year degree.
The GMS application requires eight essays, Finley said. Basically the essays ask “what you’ve done for your community and what you’re going to give back to your community,” she explained.
Finley plans a career in nursing, specifically Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nursing, and would like to attend Seattle Pacific University or a school in Florida.
Finley enjoyed her English and science class and played volleyball during high school, as well as serving as student council vice president. She was also selected as TERS high school student of the year.
Finley said, “It’s kind of hard to believe I have the Gates.”
When Tyler Krell, 18, checked the mailbox and found a packet from GMS, he was going into his driveway and his sister was driving out. He didn’t stop her or say anything to her. He thought it was an acceptance since, “It’s not a letter saying you didn’t get it; it was a big old packet.” When he sat down and opened the envelope, Krell’s hands were shaking from the adrenaline.
Krell applied for the GMS because of all the community service he had completed, such as tutoring at PHS, serving as student body president, student representative on the school board and National Honor Society president as well as working for Safe Harbor. Joanne Morrow with Upward Bound pushed him to apply, Krell said. It was a lot of work with eight different essays, totaling several thousand characters.
“I’m going to be a Carroll College Saint,” Krell said. “Although in the long run, I’d like to end up at Pepperdine.”
He plans to complete a biology degree so he can eventually become a dentist.
Krell’s favorite subjects in high school are his mathematics and science classes.
He played basketball all four years, golf one year and was football and volleyball manager.
But for Krell it’s all about the community service, having fun with peers but helping somebody out, such as serving food at the Ronan Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
“I just immediately started shaking,” Logan Lefler, 18, said, remembering his reaction when he received his packet from GMS.
He figured he got a scholarship since they sent him a packet.
Lefler said he knew the GMS application was long, but his parents persuaded him to apply for it. He spent about 40 hours on the application, and for a week’s worth of work he got four years of college.
He enjoyed writing about his struggle with anxiety the last few years and how that struggle has made him stronger.
In high school, Lefler was in National Honor Society and served as both president and vice president of his class.
He also wrestled all four years and has been wrestling since he was 4 or 5. Despite a tendency towards injury, he also played football throughout high school.
Although he considered Stanford University and Boise State University, Lefler will attend Carroll College.
He plans to major in pre-med and eventually become a dentist, and Carroll has a big percentage of dental school acceptances. Lefler’s uncle is a dentist and encouraged him to pursue dentistry as a career.
“I just feel really blessed to get the GMS. I’ve been worrying so much about how I would pay for college and worrying about student loans,” Lefler said.
