By Joaquin Aguilar-Flores
KFCS Media Relations Specialist
Klamath Union High School senior Katherine Rodriguez had no idea about the surprise which was coming her way this past Tuesday morning while she was in her third period class.
The plan had been set. Klamath Union College and Career Coordinator Karla Andrade and KU Counselors Rebecca Pierce and Jennifer Spicher knew about the news awaiting Rodriguez.
Craig Brauner, Admissions Advisor & Campus Visit Coordinator at Oregon State University Cascades, has a custom of visiting schools throughout Oregon, with the catch of surprising students to let them know they won its Presidential Scholarship.
The scholarship is nothing to look over – it is the school’s most prestigious scholarship for Oregon students, having them earn $10,000 per year for up to four years. OSU-Cascades had 3,000 students qualify this year and 127 students were awarded.
The surprise was close to not taking place as Rodriguez was supposed to be out of town for a math competition the day Brauner was intending on coming to Klamath Falls from Bend. The day was made possible as she was in one of her classes with science teacher, Heather Shaffer.
Rodriguez was startled when she saw Brauner, her parents, KU Principal, Tony Swan, and Assistant Principal, Jacque Brandow, enter her classroom with a box of Beaver goodies.
This specific scholarship did not occur last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodriguez, who is President of the National Honors Society at KU, is determined in her last year of high school. But has a lot of pondering ahead of her as she has several universities to select from.
Along with the OSU Presidential Scholarship, she has earned scholarships from University of Puget Sound, University of Oregon, Whitman College and the Sunflower Initiative.
For the University of Puget Sound, she earned a $30,000 scholarship and has earned $4,500 in scholarship funds from University of Oregon. For Whitman, she earned nearly $30,000 in scholarship funds as well. Rodriguez recently applied for a $500 scholarship through Destination Imagination.
Rodriguez is not in the unknown of how much a university may cost her as a school, such as Puget Sound, might cost over $80,000.
Realizing that, she has had her hands tied with applying for many national scholarships. Rodriguez has thought about paying for her education since last year, she said.
During only their senior year, students are able to apply for school-based scholarships while they apply for acceptance at a university. The door opens more once a student is a senior hoping to earn local scholarships.
“Getting a national scholarship, the chances are as if you are trying to win the lottery,” Rodriguez said. “Some scholarships, once you apply to the school, will automatically have you considered based off GPA.”
Rodriguez even earned two other scholarships through OSU, one through the university’s College of Science and another through natural sciences. The Presidential Scholarship, if she chooses to accept, will override the other two scholarships, however.
Rodriguez was able to receive the Presidential Scholarship through OSU ScholarDollars, an online university application system, which then allows aspiring university students to be considered for over 2,500 OSU scholarship opportunities.
