Five Cibola students receive scholarships

Five Cibola High School seniors have turned their love for their country into appointments at service academies or ROTC scholarships to college.

Ethan Panal, Victoria Richardson, Richelle Corbin, Timothy Luke and Anthony Thompson said they want to serve their country and earn a college degree at the same time.

Panal and Richardson have earned an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., while Thompson has earned an appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy.

Luke has his choice of going to either Arizona State University or the University of Arizona on an Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, while Corbin is going to the UA on her ROTC scholarship.

Panal hopes that when he goes to the academy, "I get through the challenge all four years and gain leadership skills and grow as a person."

Panal does not know exactly what he wants to do in his career, but "I was thinking something in the engineering field like mechanical engineering or aerospace engineering."

Panal, the son of Ramonito and Digna Panal, has a 4.2 grade-point average, participates in golf at Cibola and is in the school's Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program

"At first I was aiming for the ROTC program, but (last) summer I talked to a few officers and I got the idea to go to the academy, too," he said.

Richardson said her Naval Academy appointment will give her a chance to "become a better leader and to have people look up to you as a role model, and to better serve your country."

She says that she would like to major in logistics management at the academy.

While attending Cibola, the daughter of Roy and Heidi Richardson participated in track, the National Honor Society, the Renaissance Club and was captain of her soccer team. She has a grade-point average (GPA) of 4.16.

Corbin, daughter of Ronnie and Sandra Corbin, has received a full Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship to attend the University of Arizona. She says she applied for it because "It looked like a good way to pay for college, and get a good career out of it."

At Cibola, Corbin went out for swimming and track and participated in the National Honor Society and GATE. She has a GPA of 4.2.

Corbin said the scholarship will give her a chance "to better develop my leadership skills. ... It's going to provide so many more opportunities, ... and you're going get a rewarding career right after college."

"I don't know what I want to do yet, which is kind of why I like the Navy, because there are so many options I can do. But I'm thinking something in business or math-related."

Luke, son of Alan and Julie Luke, has full Army ROTC scholarships to attend ASU or UA. "I always wanted to be in the Army, and my dad and grandfather were both in the military. And it is a good way to serve the country and it also pays for college."

Luke has participated in football all four years at Cibola and was captain of the junior varsity team. He also competed in wrestling his freshman year and track his sophomore year. He was a Boy Scout and did community service and projects through his church, such as helping to build the West Wetlands park.

He has a 4.0 GPA and says he is getting his degree in electrical engineering. "But I'm planning on doing the Army as a career, so (I) will spend the full 20 years or more. And I'm not exactly (sure) what career I'm going to do in the Army, but my longtime goal is to end up in Special Forces."

Thompson, son of Caryl and Maria Thompson, will learn about maritime transportation at the Merchant Marine Academy. "I was thinking of joining the Coast Guard at first, but I wanted to have some years of college first, so I decided to look into the academies."

Thompson has a GPA of 3.2 and played football for three years at Cibola. He is also part of an club that does community service. "Sometimes we help out at a church ... And (we) helped give out food there ... and we just did a walkathon, Relay for Life for cancer."

Thompson said he wants to be a marine engineer, but that he might change career goals if he finds another branch of the military he would like to go into. But for now Thompson said, "I want to serve my country and I also want to ... learn more and prove myself physically. And I wish to learn more about marine transportation."


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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at
jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.