Brenau University has awarded four recent high-school graduates with full four-year scholarships.
Three of the students were awarded the Breanu Dreams scholarship, intended for first-generation college students from Hall County. One additional student received the Brenau Scholar award, intended for high-achieving students. The four students were recognized during a ceremony held in May.
The Brenau Dreams recipients include Melanie Perez from East Hall High School, Shakhenyah Reyes-Fernandez from Johnson High School and Enedina Garcia-Arellano from West Hall High School. Abigail Wilks of Macon, Georgia, received the Brenau Scholar award.
Laura Oliveira, interim vice president for enrollment and marketing at Brenau University, said the Brenau Dreams scholarship was introduced during the height of the pandemic.
"This is really a scholarship to tap potential," Oliveira said. "A lot of these are students who never envision, even dreaming ... of going to a four-year university. We really wanted to raise up their sightlines and get them to dream and think of possibilities in a new way."
Applicants of the Brenau Dreams scholarship were asked to complete an essay focusing on how the scholarship would change their lives. Melanie Perez, one of the scholarship winners, said her parents grew up in Mexico and did not have the opportunity to attend college.
"My dad always told me, 'Go out and be somebody in life,'" Perez said. "My dad is the only one that works, and [there are] nine of us, so it's a lot of pressure on him ... I know that from his sacrifices I can just go up higher and higher and higher."
Perez plans to study political science and may double major in business finance.
Shakhenyah Reyes-Fernandez will use her scholarship to enter the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program through Brenau's new direct-entry program.
"It's a great opportunity for me, it gives me many open doors," Reyes-Fernandez said. "It's also very stress relieving that I can get through four years of school without having to pay much and just being able to focus on my studies."
The final Dreams scholarship recipient, Enedina Garcia-Arellano, said she was currently undecided on her field of study.
“Not only is it my dream to help the people I greatly love in Mexico, but it will help me move a step ahead in my biggest dream: to make my mom and my dad proud of who I have become,” Garcia-Arellano said. “They mean the world to me, and one of the ways I can show them how I feel is by achieving my university education.”
The Brenau Scholar award is offered to students with superior academic performance. Abigail Wilks was selected based on an interview and essay. Wilks is in the thespian troupe at Mary Persons High School and is a member of Tri-M Music Honors Society.
“I will continue to love deeply. I will make new friends and build relationships that will last a lifetime. I will be able to meet people that I would never have met if I did not attend college,” Wilks said. “I will be working on fearing nothing by stepping out of my comfort zone and living on campus. I will not let fear get in my way."
