Nancy Lopez Ramirez is a senior and a GEAR UP member at North High School in Worcester and was recently selected as a Posse Scholarship recipient. To understand how great an achievement this is, you need to know a little bit about Nancy.
Nancy came to the United States with her father and younger sisters when she was 13 years old. She thought that living in America would be fun and afford her opportunities she didn’t have in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, upon arriving, she found the expectations of her family were different from her own. Nancy dedicated her life to caring for her mentally disabled aunt and her younger sisters. She didn’t get to leave the house much and had very few opportunities to practice the English language.
All that changed when her mother arrived in the State. Nancy moved in with her mom and began attending North High. If you ask her about this transition, she will tell you it was like night and day. “I always say Mom + North High = Success. I don’t like it when people say bad things about North High. We’re not on TV. We don’t have the president come. But we have amazing people: wonderful teachers and principals and GEAR UP. They all want to help you. I love North High!”
Nancy was selected from hundreds of other students to receive the Posse Scholarship. The Posse Foundation will send Nancy to Union College in Schenectady, NY for four years, for free. She’ll have a group of nine other Posse Foundation Scholarship recipients with her at Union. She’ll have access to special tutoring, summer job and internship help, and a supportive network of peers and advisors. “It’s truly a blessing,” says Nancy.