Diana Cabrera Earns Lucrative Gates Millenium Scholarship

LFHS senior Diana Cabrera, ranked in the top 10 of her class, has been selected as one of 1,000 Gates Millennium Scholars.
GMS, one of the most prestigious and lucrative scholarships in the nation, is based on strong leadership, community service and academic achievements. More than 54,000 students applied.

With the GMS, all of Cabrera’s college expenses will be covered through graduate school.

Each year, the GMS selects 1,000 of the top minority students in the U.S. to receive good-through-graduation scholarships. The GMS supports the cost of education by covering unmet financial need and providing self-help aid. Renewable each year with adequate academic progress, the scholarship also covers graduate school in numerous fields.

Cabrera has been involved in numerous extracurricular activities since her freshman year. She served as President of the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) club for two years.

She is also a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and is about to take the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification test.
Cabrera wrote a passionate essay in her application for the GNS.

“One of my essays was about my EMT class and how I did a rotation with the ambulances,” Cabrera said. “I also wrote that I was born in Mexico City and that I came to the United States when I was 11 years old. I’m passionate about helping others, and advocating for others. I used to see a lot of corruption in the government in Mexico. I used to see injustice. I saw people who did not have the resources to treat their basic needs, and that lit a fire in myself. I thank God for the different opportunities he has given me.”

Cabrera plans to major in a medical field at Seattle Pacific University (Wash.), where her brother attends.

Cabrera is the second LFHS student in two years to be awarded the scholarship. Deborah Alaine Sandoval, a GMS recipient in 2012, now attends Princeton University.