The best surprise of their lives came to thirty high school kids in California who wanted to study math, science, technology, engineering, or both.
In special events this month, Edison International gave them checks for $50,000 to help them reach their goals.
A grant winner from Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley named Alice Dos Santos said, “These are the times when you kind of feel like, ‘Oh yeah, all those late nights were worth it.‘” “And it makes me feel very safe and validated.”
Riley Houser, a senior at Citrus Valley High School who is going to major in mechanical engineering technology, was named an Edison scholar at the Redlands campus. He was accepted to Yale University earlier this school year and is now a student there.
Houser said, “This is a real big honor,” as she took her check. “I’m so glad you picked me.”
Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta’s Anelle Priebe-Garcia won the award. She plans to use the money to study civil engineering and be an inspiration to other women who want to work in STEM fields.
Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International, said that giving out grants is one of his favorite things to do all year. At Theodore Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, he gave Millie Lombera a cash prize.
Lombera said, “That gives me a lot of hope for the future—that someone else believes in me as well as my family and the head of my school.” “That makes me feel really sure that I can make it.”
Pizarro said that the scholarship program is paid for by Edison International shareholders, not by the rates their users pay.
Edison International says that each award is paid over four years and gives students the chance to apply for a paid summer job with Southern California Edison after their first year of college.
A student at Visalia’s Redwood High School named Adam Hacker said the wait was very long after he applied for the grant. He kept a close eye on the website and watched as checks were sent out one by one.
“By the time it got to the last 10, I was going to have to start telling myself, ‘Maybe this isn’t my chance,'” Hacker said.
That was until April 3, when Hacker’s parents and Edison International came to one of his classes to tell him he had been chosen. In the fall, he wants to go to the University of California, Berkeley, to study computer science and electrical engineering.
