ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Jose Perez reacts as Allison Zacarias pops confetti for the La Vida Scholars.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — High school seniors from the La Vida Scholars officially announced their college choices on Monday.
The annual announcement is known as senior signing day, when students in La Vida Scholars make the final commitment to their schools.
“This is a very happy, satisfying day,” said Dave Zagunis, executive director of La Vida Scholars.
The 17 seniors in the program committed to schools such as the University of Southern California, Hamilton College, Clark University, Salem State University and Endicott College, according to Zagunis.
“Our mission is to help high achieving, low income Lynn students get into the best colleges possible,” Zagunis said.
To do that, Zagunis said the after-school prep program for students from grades 10 to 12 works on both acceptances and scholarships. He said La Vida doesn’t give out scholarships, but helps students search for them.
The average scholar, after obtaining scholarships, financial aid and grants, pays about 10 percent for their college, with some not responsible for paying anything at all, Zagunis said. More than $12 million in scholarships, grants and awards have been received by the 98 students who have graduated from La Vida.
Zagunis said most students in La Vida are first-generation college students, and many are from immigrant families. Their parents may not be familiar with the college process, which can be overwhelming.
Parents are educated through the program and students are exposed to all of the top schools in the region, so they aren’t applying to a school that “under matches” them, or doesn’t match their abilities, Zagunis said.
Evelyn Deleon, 19, a senior at Lynn English High School, said she was born in the United States, but lived in Guatemala for 10 years. She received a full scholarship to Clark University, where she will study aesthetics of architecture, with plans to minor in psychology.
Before receiving the full scholarship, her application had been denied for other ones she had applied to. She said the thing she worried about most for college was financial aid. She lives with her sister, and Deleon said she didn’t want to put her sister or herself in a difficult situation.
“It’s like a big weight lifted off my shoulders,” Deleon said.
Korintha Tongo, 18, a senior at Lynn Classical High School, received a full scholarship to UMass-Boston, where she will study nursing. She said she was born here and her family is from Nigeria.
Tongo said she felt the scholarship showed how hard she worked over four years of high school, and gave her the money to succeed in college.
“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I am excited to go to college and see what happens there,” she said.
Ismael Aquino, 17, also a Classical High School senior, received a full tuition scholarship, and will attend Hamilton College, where he plans to study biology.
He is a first generation college student, and said his plans for school are exciting because he knows that his family didn’t have the same opportunities. He said his family always gets emotional with everything that he has accomplished.
Aquino said he was shocked to receive the Posse scholarship because he thought other candidates seemed more qualified. He was nervous, but once he got it, he said he was so excited. He said it means that his family won’t have to worry about the finances, and that college wouldn’t be a burden for them.
He said he was excited to go off to college to be independent and for the many things he gets to do in the future.
“I just want to tackle it all,” Aquino said.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at gcawley@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.