We are so proud of the 2023 Student Athlete Scholarship recipients!

Through our fifth annual Coach DJ’s Memorial Bench-A-Thon, the community raised $8,000, and we awarded $1,000 scholarships to eight student athletes. These students stood out for their passion for their sport and their eagerness to help improve the world around them. 

In their essays, students shared lessons they’ve learned and hardships they’ve overcome through athletics. Many common themes came through – the importance of time management, developing self-confidence and leadership, working hard to overcome failure, and the satisfaction of observing their own progress over time. These truths will be relevant for the rest of their lives!

The perseverance and tenacity of these students is inspiring, and we are proud to support them as they embark on their next adventures. Read on to learn more about each winner! 

 

Meet our 2023 Scholarship Recipients!

 

Kelsey Bailey
Anderson High School

Sports: Cheer (Varsity Captain, 3 time All-American Nominee)

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about marketing and sales, as well as behavioral psychology, in terms of education and career paths. Regarding my passions that lie outside of a professional setting, I enjoy devoting much of my time to improving my environment through volunteer work and community appearances with my cheer program. 

How will your future career give back to your community?
While I am still undecided on what I want to specifically pursue in my professional life, I will always use my resources to give back to my community in any way possible. Currently, I regularly volunteer my time and talents to aid multiple programs/charities with fundraising events and digital campaigns in addition to on-site assistance. I view my continued education as a means to enhance my knowledge and talents in a distinct area, enabling me to not only succeed in the workforce, but also utilize said knowledge and talents to better improve my community.

~~~~~~~

Yadira Mandujano
Liberal Arts and Science Academy

Sports: Cheerleading 

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I enjoy drawing and painting in my sketchbook as well as teaching myself how to bake. Above all else, I value pushing myself out of my comfort zone so I can learn from and be influenced by people from different walks of life. This includes traveling to new places and joining new clubs. 

What do you aspire to be?
I aspire to attend medical school and become an Oncologist someday.

How will your future career give back to your community?
As a physician, I would serve the Mexican-American community by being a source of inspiration and representation for other young minorities who hope to become doctors but didn’t think they could do it. Additionally, I’d help minority patients and their families feel safe and seen by someone who genuinely understands their experience.

~~~~~~~

Violet McCall
The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders

Sports: I play volleyball and track, and I do marching band competitively. 

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I like to read a lot, my goal this year is to read more than 20 books. I feel very passionately about banned books and believe that literature is a form of free speech that shouldn’t be restricted, so I have a collection of books that have either been banned in the past or are on lists to be banned soon. I am also passionate about film and media technology. I have made several short films and animations and I have practiced coding video games. 

How will your future career give back to your community?
One of my idols is Wes Anderson, I like him because he has a stylistic approach to his films that shows how beautiful the world can be. I think at the moment the world has a problem of catastrophizing. We tend to only focus on the bad things, and even go so far as to feel guilty for being happy when there are other people out there somewhere suffering. We think we should always be doing more, and that if we’re enjoying life we’re somehow taking that joy away from others. 

I want to change the world by creating films that show the beauty in the world, just like Wes Anderson does. I especially like his film Moonrise Kingdom, with the classic symmetrical shots and comforting color corrections. I want my films to leave people with a heartwarming feeling, so they can focus on the good things and be distracted from the horrors of the world.

~~~~~~~

Miles Metzger
Anderson High School

Sports: Soccer

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
Percussion, technology, industrial engineering, music production, psychology, health and fitness.

How will your future career give back to your community?
I am interested in pursuing a major in industrial engineering since it combines my interests in business, mathematics, and engineering. I am intrigued by several specialties of engineering, however I am most interested in how humans and machines integrate and cooperate together. I love that industrial engineering involves planning, data analysis, and optimization, in order to make processes more efficient and organized. I recently learned about a fascinating aspect of industrial engineering called human factors, which combines behavioral psychology and engineering. A brilliant engineer can design an intricate, fully optimized tool, but a person needs to intuitively understand how to operate the tool to make it effective. 

Because I am also passionate about the impacts of climate change, I want to incorporate renewable energy sources into my work. My generation must continue working toward slowing down or stopping climate change in order to preserve our world for the future. 

~~~~~~~

Claire Moore
The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders

Sports: I am a varsity swimmer, as well as team captain.

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I am deeply passionate about women’s issues, specifically menstrual equity, for which I co-founded an advocacy group at my school. I love to perform; I was a theatre student and have written and performed stand-up comedy for three years. I am an engineering student at my high school, and enjoy coding and creating devices that solve problems. I love film and TV, and spend time analyzing media in my writing and discussion with my friends. Being from Austin, live music is also a big part of my life, and I have found so much joy in the girl rock scene. I also love to sing and am teaching myself bass guitar. 

What do you aspire to be?
I have loved writing since I was a kid, and I hope to pursue screenwriting and film production in college. I hope to apply my love for comedy and feminism to create unique work. 

How will your future career give back to your community?
I believe firmly in art’s ability to create change and shift mindsets, and I want the films and writing I make to be reflective of my vision for the world. I think that service is something that can be done each and every day, and I hope to find ways I can give back to my community through my career and my work. There are so many spaces in the industry where women, people of color, and queer people are excluded, and I hope to tell their stories as well as the stories of others who are often overlooked. My dream is to work on a team full of diverse, smart, kind people who are committed to world-changing ideas.

~~~~~~~

Brady Nguyen
Anderson High School

Sports: Wrestling 

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I’ve really enjoyed weightlifting. But when I’m not in the gym, I write code to build a website that acts as a fitness log.

What do you aspire to be?
My biggest dream is be an entrepreneur and release some software that places like drive-thrus or phones could use to implement real-time translation of audio or visuals.

How will your future career give back to your community?
As a 1st generation Asian American, I’ve faced my fair share of ridicule from my language barrier. It’s even worse when my parents struggle to communicate with others. I want to give back to my community by contributing to those who face the same struggles that my family has in regards to speaking to others.

~~~~~~~

Cristopher Resendez
Akins Early College High School

Sports: Baseball, Golf

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
Medicine, music, music writing, volunteering

What do you aspire to be?
Orthopedic Surgeon

How will your future career give back to your community?
I would like to help people rehabilitate so that they can live a longer life and provide healthcare to people who do not have access to it before. I want to also use my non orthopedic knowledge to continue my research on Fentanyl and how to stop the current epidemic. 

~~~~~~~

Karly Shi
Liberal Arts and Science Academy

Sports: Tennis

Outside of athletics, what are you passionate about?
I love playing the violin, and I often organize performances with local nursing homes where student musicians can perform for their residents. I like to do what I can for my community since it’s given so much to me as I’ve grown; I tutor biology and math (from Algebra to Calculus) for students at my school, and I enjoy baking desserts for my friends.

What do you aspire to be?
I plan to go into medicine with a focus on obstetrics and gynecology.

How will your future career give back to your community?
The people around me have always shown me compassion and kindness, and their bright outlooks on the world have helped shape me into who I am today. I want to help new life come into the world as an OBGYN and see the wonderful effects that one new life can have on an entire community of people.