The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has announced two of its students, Ryan Boatright and Vianey Martinez, as the new winners of the prestigious Hawkins Scholarship. Detailed in a press release yesterday, the undergraduates were chosen after a rigorous selection process last December.
Each scholarship is valued at up to $10,000 and is bestowed upon juniors recognized for their intellect, character, and dedication to service and leadership. The funds are allocated to support educational costs, including tuition and potential preparation for graduate studies. UTEP President Heather Wilson hailed the pair as "rising stars" and stressed that the financial support would help equip them for lives centered on service.
Martinez, a computer science major originally from Franklin High School, holds impressive campus credentials. She is a mentor with the Google Developer Student Club, as well as vice president of harm reduction at her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, and goes the extra mile as the outreach coordinator for Girls Who Code. “I met an incredible group of women in computer science who became my support system at the university. They taught me that leadership is rooted in service, mentorship and paying it forward,” Martinez told UTEP News.
Boatright, a political science major from Austin, championed his tenure at UTEP, choosing to stay on despite an initial plan to transfer after a year. Through internships with local legislators such as Congresswoman Veronica Escobar and State Senator César Blanco, he has honed his ambition to attend law school. Boatright shared an experience from his teenage years that shaped his career aspirations: his father's cancer diagnosis, which was linked to a commonly sold retail product. "That happened when I was a teenager and, thankfully, he beat cancer and has been in remission since. But that experience fundamentally changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life," he explained, as per UTEP News.
