Cindy Rivas, winner of the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs' 2nd Annual Amelia Earhart Scholarship, will be attending the prestigious Washington & Lee University this fall and will be studying economics and international business.
Cindy Rivas, a young woman who came to this country nearly four years ago unable to speak a word of English and who is passionate about the role education can play in improving the lives of women, is the winner of the 2010 Zonta Club of Bonita Springs’ Amelia Earhart Scholarship.
In the short space of a few years, Ms. Rivas mastered the English language, became an honor student, was accepted in early admissions to the prestigious Washington & Lee University and recently graduated from Golden Gate High School winning the award of Outstanding Female Senior Student.
Ms. Rivas’ determination to seek a good education was born out of the trails she faced in her native Columbia. When she was 10 years old, her father fled the country to escape being forced to support the guerilla movement or die. With the loss of her father’s income, there was no money for tuition and Ms. Rivas had to quit school, but her mother was determined that they would find a way to let her continue her education.
In her application letter, Ms. Rivas detailed how the day she left school her mother took her in her arms and told her, “Whatever we have to do, we will do it. My mother’s words not only triggered my mind, my soul and my body with energy to overcome the sadness I was feeling, but they have defined my mission in life. I want to improve my quality of life and to improve the quality of life of those women who are hungry for opportunities but have been deprived of them.”
In the ensuing weeks Ms. Rivas and her mother walked mile after mile hunting for a free school. They eventually found one, but Ms. Rivas soon discovered it was nearly impossible for her or the other students to learn because they had little to nothing to eat. Many had no shoes.
Y'Vonne Murray, President of the Zonta Club of Bonita Springs, left, and Denese Mattrey, Chair of the Club's Grants Committee, right, meet Cindy Rivas, middle, winner of the Club's 2nd Annual Amelia Earhart Scholarship at Golden Gate High School.
“I was only 10 years old at the time, but I knew this was the time to follow my mother’s words and to begin to fight for my future and the future of others,” she said in the letter. “I did not have enough funds to take the girls out of their lives of suffering, nor did I have the power to stop the abusive treatment they received at home. Nevertheless, I was committed to do something for them. I began to knock door to door trying to find some food for them. Many doors were slammed in my face, but that did not stop me….Finally I found a bakery that would give us five hundred pieces of bread daily, two a piece. Within a year our academic success level increased. Now we had the power to put our minds and bodies to work, and we were ready and able to learn.”
Soon afterwards, Ms. Rivas reconnected with her father who was alive in the United States. “I knew my father was in the country of opportunities, the United States of America.” She was determined that he should bring her here where she would have a better chance of attending college. She knew her father would not be able to pay for a higher education and told him, “I just ask that you take me with you. Once I get there, I will put all of myself into making my dream to go to college a reality, I promise you.” And so she has.
Denese Mattrey, left, Chair of the Zonta Club of Bonita's Grants Committee, and Y'Vonne Murray, Club President, right, officially present Cindy Rivas, middle, with the Club's 2nd Annual Amelia Earhart Scholarship during the Club's May meeting.
Since coming to this country, Ms. Rivas also began to fulfill her dream of helping others. She began working with a program that lets her teach women in Columbia how to speak English. “Learning the English language has been the best experience ever for me, but knowing that another person was learning it through me was even greater,” she said in her letter.
The last line on Ms. Rivas’ application letter for the scholarship says it all: “There are three things that will always be embedded in me—passion, compassion and desire to make my life and the lives of other productive. If you allow me this opportunity, I will not waste it; I will hold tight and squeeze for all I’m worth.
Ms. Rivas was officially awarded the $4,000 scholarship–$1,000 for each year of college—at the Club’s May 19th meeting. The award was made possible with the proceeds of the Club’s 2nd Annual Amelia Earhart Luncheon held this spring to award a scholarship to an outstanding woman from our area who is seeking to continue her education in math, science or business, fields which reflect the career of Amelia Earhart, the most famous member of Zonta International.
