ST PAUL, Minn. — Wallin Education Partners surprised 17 students from three local high schools to celebrate this year’s scholarship class.
The class features 323 students from more than 70 Minnesota high schools who received more than $7.5 million in scholarship money. Each scholar will receive up to $16,000 over four years.
“It feels great,” said Yorbi “Junior” Lopez, a senior at Como Park Senior High School in St. Paul. “I was wondering when they were going to get back to me and everything, and then when I got the surprise, I was like what? I couldn’t believe it.”
Lopez has plans to major in mechanical engineering. He said he loves to fix things and was inspired by his uncle who fixes cars at a local repair shop.
“I just loved watching him work and learning about everything, from the motors to all the other parts and how they work,” Lopez said.
He doesn’t know which college he will attend in the fall, because he is still waiting to receive financial aid offers from the schools he has applied to. He has a short list of colleges he is interested in, including Augsburg, Bethel, St. Thomas and Minnesota-Duluth.
Wallin President and CEO Mohamed Sallam says they received a lot of interest in their scholarships this year.
“We thought, maybe with the uncertainty around FAFSA and financial aid this year, that we would see a drop in applications, but we actually saw the opposite," Sallam said. "There are a lot of students and families who are looking for some sort of certainty and support as they transition to college."
Right now, Wallin has more than 500 students on their waiting list.
Sallam says all of those students qualify for services, but Wallin is still waiting for the donation money to come in to provide those students with scholarships.
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