A Prosperous Future for Do Dooley Scholarship Winner – Georgina Galvez

A Prosperous Future for Do Dooley Scholarship Winner – Georgina Galvez

Posted on May 24, 2019

Georgina ‘Gina’ Galvez has a bright future ahead of her. Today, she gets ready to graduate Avenal High with honors and a trail of impressive accolades behind her. Gina is one of the proud recipients of the Doris Dooley Scholarship— an award established to help the children of Self-Help Enterprises’ participant families to further their education.

But her journey to academic excellence was never smooth sailing. Gina was born in Jalisco, Mexico and migrated to the US with her family when she was about 6 years old. Her father received amnesty during the Reagan administration and thus was able to help his family attain legal residency. Gina and her family lived in Sacramento for a couple of years where she struggled tremendously to assimilate. “I didn’t speak one word of English so it was very hard,” said Gina. After her father got injured while working in construction, they moved to Kettleman City where her mother continued to work in the fields to provide for her family. It was there that she got the confidence to practice and better her English.

Encouraged by her parents to “keep going,” she very soon developed a genuine love for math and writing. In high school, she fell in love with sports and to no one’s surprise, became an all-star player in both volleyball and basketball. Gina’s charisma allows her to genuinely connect with people. “I am very community-driven, and I love learning about people and their lives.” Aside from excelling in her academics, she is a natural leader and served as the ASB Treasurer, President of Campus Beautification and participant for the Waste Management Environmental Science Academy.

“Words fall short in describing Georgina. Georgina is one of the most genuine and unique individuals with whom I’ve been acquainted during my long tenure at Avenal High School…,” wrote John Brennan, one of Gina’s AP teachers.  “She works very hard academically, as her G.P.A. will attest, and has demonstrated an articulation and diligence beyond compare.”

Despite the limited local resources, Gina’s determination to become a doctor is solid as she strives to achieve her best every day. Come fall, she will embark on her new journey as a university student at UC Berkeley where she will study pre-med.

Georgina and her family learned about SHE through the Drinking Water for Schools program that the Community Development Department administered at both Kettleman Elementary School and Avenal High School. She learned about SHE’s  scholarship opportunity and without a doubt decided to apply.

The Doris “Do” Dooley Scholarship, named after Self-Help Enterprises’ former Board member and dedicated friend of the organization, was established to help the children of Self-Help Enterprises’ participant families to further their education. In total, SHE awarded a total of $6,500 to 10 deserving students. In addition to contributions of many, generous individual donors, the Do Dooley Scholarship fund has also recently received funding from Southern California Edison. SHE wishes all students the best of luck and all the success in the world.