TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Four Pima County high school students are receiving $40,000 scholarships from the Victoria Teresa Arias Memorial Foundation.
The foundation is named after Michael and Lorena Arias’ daughter, Victoria, who died in 2017 just six weeks before leaving for college. She had earned a full-ride scholarship but was unable to fulfill that dream.
"During that difficult time of her passing, our community of Tucson really embraced us and picked us up and and carried us through those those hard times," Michael said. "And we wanted to give back to our community and that was kind of the seed for the beginning of the foundation."
He explains that the scholarships are available to students across Southern Arizona, and that the selection committee considers not only academic achievement, but also the personal journeys behind each applicant.
"It's not based on grades alone, it's not based on what ranking you are in your class. It's about your story and your uniqueness and you know, being the right fit to join our Tori family," Michael Arias said.
Out of 113 applicants, four stories stood above the rest.
Ramón Sarmiento is graduating from San Miguel High School. He says the award will tremendously help him pursue his education.
"Unfortunately my dad’s been out of a job for the last two years as an out of work landscaper so a lot of what I’ve had to do is start working at Sonoran House. I’ve been a busser for a few months now and I’m just trying to help my dad where I can with rent, insurance, car payments," Sarmiento said.
He said he most likely will attend the University of Arizona because he can't leave his dad behind.
He says he's leaning toward studying engineering.
Amy Aldama is a soon-to-be Pueblo High School graduate deciding between attending Princeton and NYU.
"My dream was to always get into an Ivy League and have financial support for that as well. So I always knew that I wanted to help my community, to have a good education in order to come back and help them out," Aldama said.
Pamela Romero attends Sunnyside High School and will be going to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio to study neuroscience. She draws inspiration from her grandpa.
"He never got to pursue an education and then he always tells me how I should go seize it, like every opportunity I have I should take it," Romero said.
She says she's very grateful for the Arias family and what they stand for.
Harry Barsiwal, a senior at Palo Verde High School, says he was surprised when he found out he was chosen, but it came at a perfect time.
"I’m an international student and because of that I’m not eligible for a lot of things like FAFSA or anything, so receiving this scholarship definitely helps you know, take me a step toward my goal of having as less financial stress as I can and a step towards me becoming a successful physician in the future," Barsiwal said.
Since 2017, the foundation has awarded over $540,000 in scholarships.
"We call it Tori magic, you know, our daughter Victoria, she always works her magic," Michael Arias said.
The students will receive their awards at the annual scholarship gala taking place June 19 at Casino Del Sol. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are still available, but hurry they're selling fast.
"We're pushing probably 450 people already out of 650, so yeah, it's going fast. So if people are interested, we sold out last year for the first time and that was exciting. We had 600 guests show up and that was amazing. All monies raised that night go directly to the scholarship," Michael Arias said.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
