A Lewisville High School senior is going to college for free after being awarded a scholarship for more than $240,000.
Jesus Barrios immigrated to the US just six years ago and didn’t speak English. He’s now the first Lewisville ISD student to be named a Stamps Scholar.
The merit-based program awards full college tuition for up to 380 students across the country and in the UK, selecting candidates based on their academics, leadership skills, and a desire to change the world.
“It hits me hard because, you know, I never thought it was possible to be honest,” Jesus Barrios told NBC 5.
It was possible, but it certainly wasn’t easy.
Barrios and his family came to the U.S. from Venezuela in 2018, leaving him to navigate middle school in the Metroplex without speaking English.
“Just the fact of having to leave my best friends, my friends, my family, and basically all I knew behind, it was a pretty difficult challenge,” Barrios said.
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One thing that helped the transition was Barrios’s love of playing soccer, but he faced another roadblock when he didn’t make the Lewisville High School team as a freshman.
After the setback, his parents shared words of wisdom.
“They told me okay, we know it’s going to be hard for you, but this is up to you,” Barrios said. “This is going to take as long as you want it to take, and you’re going to get out of it what you put into it.”
Barrios responded, rapidly learning English, excelling in the classroom, and eventually being named captain of the Lewisville High School varsity soccer team.
His leadership also caught the attention of his school’s college counselors.
“I met him when he was 14, and the growth and the perseverance and the character that has developed is just a fantastic young man,” said Holly Genova, a college counselor at Lewisville High School.
Genova pushed Barrios to apply for scholarships,
In January, he was waitlisted for the Stamps Scholarship after being turned down for an interview. Barrios sent the interviewers a thank you note for the opportunity, and that must have stood out: two months later, he got an email that he was back in the running.
“I just jumped off my seat and I cried, I laughed,” Barrios said. “It was so exciting for me.”
Barrios won the scholarship, $244,000 to send him to Barry University in Florida for four years for free.
When he looks back, Barrios still feels this American dream is just getting started.
“Me as an immigrant kid, it’s everything to be honest, it’s the world,” Barrios said. “And I’ll take this opportunity all the way.”
