Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship Recipient Profile: Gabe Cazares

Gabe Cazares' goal in life is to become a professional computer technician. But as the youngest of a family of 12, he knew he would have to fight all odds to attend college to fulfill his dream.

Growing up in Alaska was fun for Cazares. But when he was only 9 years old, his mother moved his family to Nicaragua to become a missionary. In 2005, Cazares finally returned to Alaska. He was 15 years old and eager to get an education. "I missed six years of school, so when we came back to Alaska I had to study hard to catch up."

"Going back to school wasn't easy for me," Cazares said. He was paranoid that he would be made fun of due to his lack of education and social skills. After joining a home school program for a year, he attended the Kenai Alternative High School and finally felt like he was making progress. "I finished high school in March with a 3.9 GPA," said Cazares. He is only the second of his siblings to have finished high school.

Cazares knew that he would have to find some financial assistance to aid him in his goal to pursue his dream of becoming a professional computer technician. "I grew up in a family where college is considered to only be for rich people," he said.

Cazares found out about the scholarship through his fiancé. "My fiancé works in the Financial Aid office and told me about the $7M anonymous gift. She encouraged me to apply for the scholarship, so I did," Cazares said.

After coming back to Alaska, Cazares knew that he wanted to stay here to continue his education. "It's a great school and convenient, plus I got a job as a student worker in maintenance. They work with my school schedule, so it works out perfect!"

"Growing up in a huge family like mine, I knew I had to rely on other sources for financial aid. So, this scholarship gives me even more motivation to finish school and get my college degree," Cazares said.

Cazares is surprised at how far he has come with his education. "I never thought I'd be able to finish high school, because of all the years of school I missed when I was in Nicaragua. I've had an interesting life, but I want to break free from my childhood poverty, and show that I can be successful."

Cazares is a freshman at Kenai Peninsula College this year. He wants to become the first in his family to receive a college diploma.

The Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship is the result of the generous anonymous $7M gift that UAA received in the spring of 2009. Conditions of the gift stated that the majority of the money was to be used for student scholarships, particularly benefiting women and minorities. The $6M designated for scholarships enabled UAA to establish an endowment to provide needs-based scholarships to students.

This new needs-based scholarship will be awarded incrementally, up to four years, for students working toward an associate'' or baccalaureate degree from UAA. This special feature is designed to provide an incentive and reward to students who persist in their studies toward a degree. Recipients of the Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship will receive money for tuition and housing or childcare each year -- all very important for student success.

This donation has already had a significant impact on the lives of UAA's students; 50 students have been awarded this special scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. Here's the story of one of our outstanding scholarship recipients.