Melissa

Melissa graduated from West Ottawa High School in 2018 and is pursuing a degree at Grand Valley State University.
Melissa’s parents always told her and her sister that getting a college degree would allow them to have jobs they love and feel passionate about.
“I want a college degree because I want to make my parents proud. They only finished middle school and have encouraged me financially and emotionally to continue with high school and eventually college. I am so proud and happy to realize that I will be the second person in my entire family to go to college.”
Since she was in the fifth grade Melissa has dreamed of being a college professor.
“I want to achieve something that no one in my family or in my life has achieved. As a Mexican-American woman, I have not seen many get as far as a doctorate degree. I want to be an example for many young Mexican girls.”
Staff members at Hope College’s Upward Bound want Melissa to be an example to young girls too. That’s one of the many reasons she was nominated to receive a H/Z Promise Scholarship.
To learn more about the Holland/Zeeland Promise Scholarship, visit www.cfhz.org/hzpromise

