Ivy League dream comes true for Yuman

Since middle school, Edgar Munoz dreamed of going to an Ivy League school. While excited by the acceptance letter he received, it was only after he was awarded a scholarship did it seem a real possibility.

"I was psyched, but I didn't know how I was going to pay for it. A month went by after I was accepted and then I got the scholarship. I was really excited because then I thought, I can really go now."

Edgar, 17, a San Luis High School senior, was just awarded a $51,194 scholarship from Cornell University that is renewable each year. The majority - $40,000 - is provided by Cornell while federal Pell grants fund the rest.

Yet Edgar must still overcome another hurdle. He must pay a $2,300 student contribution but he has no money to cover the cost. He must also provide his own health insurance. Cornell recommended a work/study program.

But his guidance counselor, Elizabeth Carrasco, advised him to seek public appeals for support or apply for another scholarship because "going to one of the top 10 programs won't be easy, and you must make studies a priority," she said.

Meanwhile, an Ivy League school had been his general goal and Edgar still has pending applications to Harvard, as well as MIT and Cal Tech. It was the attraction of going far away and experiencing a change of culture that attracted Edgar to the Ivy League schools. And Edgar said it was likely his background that helped gain him acceptance to Cornell. His parents immigrated from Mexico in 1998.

"I'm from a small-town immigrant family and you usually don't get to experience something like this. I think because I'm first-generation college bound, that Cornell looked at that as something as not a typical student."

His acceptance was also likely influenced by his 3.8 grade-point average as well as having already earned 40 college credits since taking dual credit classes at Arizona Western College since he was a freshman. He also volunteers at his high school library and does fundraisers for his church, Iglesia de Jesucristo, as well as being an award-winning artist. This spring he won a blue ribbon for an acrylic portrait he sold at the Yuma County Fair.

Edgar said he is thinking of majoring in electrical engineering because he would like to to eventually design small electronics such as the iPod.

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William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.