‘I really found my spark’: Four DC high school students chosen as Milken Scholars – WTOP News

Four students from the Washington, D.C. area have been selected as prestigious Milken Scholars. The program provides high school students in D.C., New York and Los Angeles with a full scholarship to their university of choice and supports them through their academic career.

To earn the award, students must demonstrate strong academic performance, financial need and commitment to community service and leadership.

One of the four students selected was 18-year-old Alina Calix-Martinez, who graduated from Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in D.C. with a 4.23 GPA. She will attend Brown University in Rhode Island on a full scholarship, and plans to major in philosophy and possibly enter journalism after she graduates.

Academics, entrepreneurship, volunteering, her faith and family are the centerpiece of her life, Calix-Martinez said. She’s the daughter of a single mother and an immigrant.

“In school, I always tried my best and I really found my spark in what I wanted to do, what I enjoyed, when I joined my school newspaper my sophomore year,” she said. “My mom is a single mom, and she really always inspired me … to be the best version of myself.”

She quickly rose through the ranks at the school paper, the Wicket, and last school year, she was editor-in-chief, overseeing a staff of 30 student journalists.

Calix-Martinez is bilingual and said her passion for writing and language has pushed her to write complex stories on socioeconomic issues, diversity in higher education, gun-control and immigration.

“I really tried to shoot for the stars with my college admissions process and ultimately, I ended up matching into Brown University and that was a really big dream come true,” she said. “My mom has always instilled in me that I can do whatever I put my mind to, and she is my number one supporter, and my sister is always there for me with whatever I need help with.”

Calix-Martinez also started a dog-walking business and has served hundreds of hours volunteering as a tutor for children in elementary and junior high schools, along with serving as a bilingual admissions ambassador at Georgetown Visitation.

Her tutoring business is called “Vamos!” and focuses on serving underserved, Spanish-speaking students. Under her leadership as copresident, the program doubled the number of tutors from 45 to 90.

Already, she has a long list of awards and other community-based recognitions, including the College Board National Hispanic Recognition Award, the College Board First-Generation Recognition Award and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Greenman L. Leadership Award to attend a journalism program.

She also was recognized with the Co-Curricular Excellence Award for Leadership two years in a row. As a Catholic Charities student service leadership fellow, she completed service projects at various Catholic Charities locations.

Other D.C.-area Milken Scholars include:

• Preston Drake, British International School of Washington, The University of Chicago
• Victoria Presentado, St. John’s College High School, Emory University
• Miqueas Ramirez De La Rosa, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Duke University

As a Milken Scholar, Calix-Martinez and the other students will also receive a $10,000 scholarship at an upcoming educational summit in Los Angeles.

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