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A senior at Greeley Central High School struggled with instability as a child due to frequent moves and having to learn English on her own.
But after receiving the Weld Community Foundation’s largest scholarship, Adriana Parra Herrera anticipates a newfound sense of stability as she embarks on a path toward higher education.
The Weld Community Foundation awarded the Wilbert Wiedeman Scholarship to Herrera on Thursday afternoon at Greeley Central High School.
The foundation grants about 150 scholarships, totaling nearly $800,000, each year to Weld County students. Herrera, surrounded by her parents, peers, teachers and others who played a role in her accomplishment, tearfully accepted the $80,000 scholarship to help pay for her postsecondary plans after facing financial and cultural struggles throughout her life.
“The weight is off,” Herrera said. “This is really big for me … It’s stability.”
The Weld Community Foundation’s scholarship committee reviewed 11 candidates from Greeley Central for the Wilbert Wiedeman Scholarship this year, and Herrera’s story left the biggest impact. She went from migrant field work and teaching herself English to becoming a remarkable student who participates in several clubs and sports, excels in Advanced Placement classes and tutors others.
As a child, Herrera’s family moved multiple times, living in Mexico, Wisconsin and Colorado. In third grade, she only knew of two other Spanish speakers at her school in Wisconsin. She recalled feeling as if she didn’t have a voice because people would always have to translate what she said, making it difficult to get her point across.
After speaking through other people, Herrera felt the need to find her voice and speak up for her needs by learning English with the help of apps, translating English movies, reading books and taking public speaking and AP English classes.
Throughout high school, Herrera worked hard to get where she is today, which took away from having a normal high school experience, she said. Her busy schedule consisted of eating lunch during meetings and getting home late due to after-school sports and activities. She joked that she has lived at school more than her own house.
With the scholarship, she’ll be able to focus on having a college experience without the constant worry of affording tuition and fees.
For the past three years, the Wilbert Wiedeman Scholarship has funded eight Greeley Central High School and Windsor High School graduates between $80,000-100,000 each for their college careers.
Upon Wilbert Wiedemann’s death, his estate established a scholarship for students from both schools because he attended Windsor High and his wife attended Greeley Central. But his scholarship, essentially a full-ride for most students, differs from others.
Although the scholarship factors in academic performance, the threshold considers students from the 50th-95th percentile of their class. A recipient must demonstrate community involvement and the drive to succeed to earn the scholarship.
“The idea was that you have the students that are going to get all those top scholarships,” Weld Community Foundation CEO Tim Koons said. “How about the people that are just right underneath that, who maybe get missed over, whose grade-point average isn’t as high?”
Before selecting a stellar student, the scholarship committee digs into the student’s background and involvement, receiving help from school counselors, instead of only looking at a candidate’s GPA, Koons added.
In addition to excelling academically, Herrera has been “all around the school” taking on leadership roles, joining clubs and participating in sports.
Herrera plays three sports: soccer, cheer and most recently, softball, a new endeavor she tried to get out of her comfort zone. In her four years of high school, she’s also been involved in the National Honors Society, Advancement Via Individual Determination, Student Council, the League of United Latin American Citizens and much more.
She also co-founded the school’s beloved cultural assembly, contributing to a tradition of celebrating the diversity at Greeley Central. Her involvement with founding the assembly stood out to the Weld Community Foundation.
Herrera plans to study architecture and minor in business at the University of Colorado Denver. She looks forward to studying abroad in Europe during her college career.
“My path might not be a straight line, but I will get there,” Herrera said.
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