By Abby Baker
Staff Writer
Mira Costa seniors further their interest outside of highschool to advance in their extracurriculars from scholarships they’ve received from South California Regional Occupational Center (Scroc).
SoCal ROC is a center thats purpose is to allow students to take classes that are more in detail about a particular profession or hobby of their interest. The goal is to help students pursue their desired occupations and launch kids into the working world with more skill and knowledge about their particular field of study.
The prerequisites determined for the scholarships recipients are followed by criteria of academics for the reason that they can find the best possible candidates. They do this through the quality of their essays, the students resumes, instructor feedback and the career pathway.
“Scholarships are best for the students being able to fund part of their post-secondary school,” Dr. Helaire, SoCal ROC’s executive director said.
Mira Costa’s senior, Shirleen Chen received a scholarship for the law firm, Law Offices of Eric Bathen along with $2,500. The money was able to help Chen get a head start on her college classes through BerkleeOnline and receive college credit.
“I am more than grateful that I have been able to use this scholarship to fund important resources like my freshmen year of college,” Chen said.
The scholarship also has been beneficial to Chen through her music. With the scholarship money she was able to replace her recording equipment with new professional grade apparatus and top music recording software.
“Music is something I’m really passionate about and Scroc has helped me pursue this in my future years of college at Berklee College of Music,” Chen said.
Chen used some of the money to partially pay for her freshmen year of college. This was helpful because it covered things like her books, laptops and more.
Another Costa senior, Sean Fitzgerald, also received a scholarship from SoCal ROC. His courses include two classes of the Emergency Medical Services that follow the requirements of firefighters, in which he aspires to be.
“Scroc has enabled me to complete these courses for free since I take them through Costa,” Fitzgerald said. “This is helpful because if I took them outside of the school they would cost around a thousand dollars a class.”
The program certifies him as an Emergency medical technician. The EMT allows Fitzgerald to qualify for a firefighter, in which he aspires to be.
“My scholarship sets a goal for me and it allows me to take the right steps toward achieving it,” Fitzgerald said. “I am able to continue my education outside of high school and Scroc.”
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