Struggles Eased for Gates Scholar

Angelita Garcia, a liberal studies major at Cal State Fullerton, has been living on her own since high school, but that never kept her from pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher.

After all, it was the teachers at Anaheim High School--along with Anaheim Union Supt. Janice Billings and Anaheim Mayor Shirley McCracken--who encouraged her. Today, Garcia is a Gates Millennium Scholar, one of a handful of minority college students to get all her education and housing expenses paid, thanks to Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.

The full-time freshman, who has had to work to support herself and get through school, is among the first students to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created in 1999.

Garcia said the award will ensure that she meets her goal of becoming a high school teacher.

“I want to give back to high school students and show them that if I can do it, they can do it,” she said.

The scholarship is aimed at increasing the number of low-income, high-achieving minority students to graduate from college or earn graduate degrees. Eligible candidates must exhibit significant financial need, have a cumulative GPA of 3.3, and demonstrated leadership ability through participation in community service and extracurricular activities. The program is administered by the United Negro College Fund in partnership with the American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Organization of Chinese Americans, who represent the Asian Pacific American community.