On March 20, Southeast seniors Vatedis Coleman, Deborah Alvarado, and Richard Gwyn Jr. became the first Southeast students to receive a full ride scholarship from the Rudd Foundation.

“I’m very excited, like, I did the application, everything. But I wasn’t, like, expecting it. But it’s here, and I’m really excited about that,” Gwyn Jr. said.

“Hard work, it pays off, it really does,” Coleman said.

“It’s crazy I don’t even know; it’s super fresh, super exciting though, like actually crazy, like, I literally don’t know what to say,” Alvarado said.

The process to getting a scholarship is a long and arduous one, so the winners have decided to share some advice.

“The steps are just like really applying yourself, putting yourself out there doing like a lot of community service, and focusing on your education, keeping your grades up,” Gwyn Jr. said.

“So, first you have to apply and read through all of the application requirements, make sure you craft your essay perfectly, perfectly I mean perfectly. Have people look over it and follow the steps and what they ask you in a timely manner, do your interview, practice your interview questions,” Coleman said.

Dexter Hayes, our college and career center coordinator, also has some wisdom regarding getting scholarship.

“Take your final ACT, get that final ACT score, you want to shoot for somewhere around 20 or 21 anything like that. You also want to start your FAFSA application,” Hayes said. “You can start your application in October and, you know, contacts, build those contacts, build those resumes, and build relationships and things like that and meet the requirement 3.5 GPA, you got a chance to win $75,000.”

Out of 700 applicants, these three students went above and beyond and has earned themselves a place alongside the other 42 Rudd Scholars, achieving great heights.