Teen Mom Receives $8,000 Scholarship

A single mother who will graduate June 30 from San Fernando High School and head to MIT with her daughter this fall, received an $8,000 scholarship Friday from the Rotary Club of Los Angeles.

Nora Cadena, 18, was one of 83 students in the Los Angeles area who were presented with a total of $165,000 in scholarship money at a Rotary Club luncheon at the Wilshire Grand Hotel downtown.

Cadena was also one of three speakers selected to address the group, said Lynn Winter Gross, a spokesman for the Rotary Club.

When Cadena got pregnant at 16 and gave birth to her daughter, Chassitty, she thought she would have to give up her dream of going to a top-notch college.

But the first-generation Mexican American persevered, and this spring earned a spot at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the class of 2003.

Although Cadena is receiving some scholarship money from MIT, both of her parents are unemployed, and she is working 40 hours a week at Hughes Space and Communications to help support her daughter and family.

The Rotary Club scholarship money is intended to help Cadena with her books and living expenses over four years.

Like other scholarship recipients, Cadena will also have a Rotary Club mentor, who will provide support and advice during her college years.

Gross said the organization selects recipients based on merit and need.

“We are really looking for people who will give back to the community,” Gross said.

Other recipients this year include Sumanta Kumar Pal, 16, a recent pre-med graduate of Cal State L.A., who began college at 13, and a boy who lives in a homeless shelter.

Kate Jurgel of Westlake High School, who will attend Barnard College in New York City this fall, also received a Rotary scholarship.