Scholarship Award Recipients 2021

Brandon Bazile
Congratulations to Brandon as he graduates from Saint Mary’s High School and prepares to start at Loyola Marymount in the fall, taking up studies in computer science. That interest arises from his participation in the Hidden Genius Project, a group that trains and mentors young black men in technology creation and leadership skills.

Students who participate in the project are known as geniuses. After only a year, Brandon won the Best App Award and the 2019 AfroTech Pitch Competition. Maybe on a Christmas break he can come back and help his dad distribute the holiday food packages from the parish, as he always has. Our hearts go with Brandon in this latest adventure. 

Tatjana Bevineau
Tatjana is one of our graduating seniors this year, completing her pre-med studies at the University of San Francisco. The public health emergency turned the last school year upside down. All classes were online, including upper-level science courses and the correlated lab work. Imagine also taking voice lessons over Zoom, as part of a minor in music. For Tatjana the school year also included work as a simulations technician working alongside licensed nurses in a clinical setting.  

The pandemic put most outside activities on pause, but she continued her work with Camp Kesem, providing needed support to students who have a parent with cancer. She served on the Board that raised funds to make the Camp a reality this summer. Whew. What a year and what a fine culmination of a college course of study.

A career in medicine awaits.  

Chidimma Ezeokoli 
We sent Chidimma off to college with our prayers two years ago, and when she started on her sophomore  year  this time  last year. Part Three. Chidimma will major in Health Science with a concentration in public health, just in time to help us through a global pandemic.  Her passion for helping others has found an outlet at the Youth Employment Partnership this summer.

She will mentor at-risk youth in the skills needed to apply for jobs and to take interviews, all the while cleaning the streets of Oakland. Her mentoring will also include advice on college and future careers.  To take a break from studies Chidimma is also a member of the Eclectic Pulse dance team.  We knew her love of dance from her time with us and are delighted to hear of a new opportunity.

Our pride and our praise join in her dance. 

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
Plans for your welfare and not for harm,  to give you a future and a hope.
                              —Jeremiah 29:11

Jennifer Manango Galvez
Jennifer is one of two members of the freshman class receiving awards this year. She will pursue a nursing degree at Sacramento State University in the fall. Her mother’s strength in coping with illness inspired Jennifer to take her education seriously. In addition to classes at Berkeley High School, she was a volunteer intern at UCSF Children’s Hospital, shadowing doctors and nurses and helping with patients when needed. Her high school even offered an honors course in Applied Medical English.

She came to see and use educational opportunities that came to her as steps that would lead to a career in the medical field. We will miss the spirit of service that showed in the many years that Jennifer was an altar server at the 4:00 Mass.

May God open the new roads ahead for her.  

Isabel Hallock 
Our prayers and best wishes go with Isabel as she starts her senior year at Xavier University of Louisiana.  She has majored in psychology and looks forward to taking an advanced degree in education. Online courses this past year during the pandemic had unique challenges for Isabel. An 8:00 morning class in New Orleans became a 6:00 class in Oakland. Classes had to be balanced with work in the evenings to cover expenses.  Fortunately, Isabel found an apartment in New Orleans for the coming academic year.  

The past four summers she has also taught at the Oakland Freedom Schools Literacy Program. That literacy assistance program has become Isabel’s second home, and inspires her goal of teaching children of color as part of a post graduate degree in school counseling. We are thankful for Isabel’s work with the Social Justice Committee of our parish that brought her this far by faith. 

Alexander Rudolph 
This fall Alexander enters his second year at San Francisco State University where he is studying electrical engineering. These studies grew from a robotics club in high school, helping design a robot that could lift and carry socks faster and more efficiently. Two older brothers led the way to college studies, both of whom were previous award recipients. One brother would talk about the workings of insects and the other helped Alexander understand the histories of different cultures.  

He began the biography attached to his application with the statement “Imagine you are an intention. Which intention are you?” Alexander’s intention is patience working with his internal hunger for knowledge.  

May he never outgrow that patience or that hunger. 
 

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength,
the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
                               — Harriet Tubman